The Speaker's Statement

I keep seeing comments that John Bercow has made a ruling. He hasn't. He made a statement about a future ruling that he might have to make.

I ended up watching the whole statement he made at 15:33 yesterday on Parliament TV website. The media circulated an abbreviated version that omitted most of the preamble and much of the reasoning.

In his 10 minute statement he pointed out that by long standing, but current, convention the Govt cannot do what it was planning to do. In other words, this was not a decision that he, Mr Speaker was making, but a long standing convention.

If the convention were dispensed with, the Govt would be free to pursue a vexatious strategy which not only disrespects the strongly expressed will of the House (in a record-breaking defeat for the the Govt) but also attempts to bully them into submission to the will of the PM. This would be unconstitutional!

Any ruling would not come until the Govt sought leave from the Speaker to have the parliament vote on the bill. If it were the same bill that was soundly defeated, the Speaker would have little option but to deny them leave.

People complain that he has flouted convention in the past. Now they complain when he upholds convention.

Some are saying that he has precipitated a "constitutional crisis", but the UK has been in such a crisis for at least two years (arguably longer). It goes with all the other crises the Tories have precipitated by slashing funding for the fabric of society. Bercow is doing the job that he was appointed to do. The Govt is at fault here for ignoring convention and attempting to subvert the will of the House and to bully them.

Theresa May's complete inability to negotiate did not serve the UK well when she was Home Secretary, it has not served us in getting a leaving deal, and it is not serving us now as she fails to even get a majority let alone a consensus. Parliamentary conventions are often there precisely to protect parliament from leaders like her.

And as I watch events unfold in New Zealand with Prime Minister Ardern out there hugging people and helping bring New Zealand people together in the face of horrific tragedy, I can't help but wonder what has gone wrong over here that our leaders really don't seem to give a shit.