[Closed] Bercow joining Labour

Good man. Need a few million more people now to realise just what the Conservative party has become with Johnson as leader, and wash their hands of it for good.

"He also accused the PM of having no interest in anybody but himself,"

Pot, kettle, black.

Small angry bully joins bunch of disorganised crap politicians

The whole time he was speaker, I always thought he was Labour. It was a great surprise to me when he stood down and then I found out he was a Tory.

Bercow has always been an unpredictable oddball imo. I'm not entirely sure how much of an asset he will be for the Labour Party, I suspect not much.

If I was Labour Leader I would worried about a loose political cannonball who has the ability to grab the headlines.

His wife is a labour supporter.

Member I think

Trying to get into the Lords?
More of a serving slime ball than most of the rest in the Commons.

I don't think he's even going to be an MO again is he? However I do think that hypothetically if he were Labour leader he's got what it takes to compete with Johnson.

That will make labour popular 🙄

When elected Speaker he was voted in by Labour MPs - not sure if any Tory actually voted for him. Worth finding Tom Bradby interview with him - cringe inducing train smash. During Cameron’s time in office few back Ben here, like Chope, even more interested in making mischief with Bercow than being difficult on Europe.

He's a recognised "face" in the media, will get on telly as he's guaranteed to say the sorts of things no MP will and has the experience not to fall for any obvious elephant traps, and he hates Johnson. Even if that's just the Sunday political programmes, it's something.

Given that none of  the Labour front bench are known in the pubic, and are pretty much just faceless bureaucrats, Labour could do with a few supports with a ready quote of just how jeffing useless the tories are.

Spot on nickc.

Agree with nickc.

As good as it will be to have someone else sticking the boot into bozo, to anyone who voted for Brexit he's just another remainer who tried to frustrate Brexit. I can't see him helping win back any red wall voters. Hopefully I'm wrong.

He might well be a bit odious but in the face of stupendously useless (or hand tied trying to appeal to both side of the debate) opposition he's still a bit of hero to me for his pantomime performance slowing up Brexit's progress.

All up for him putting the knife into BJ and his shower. Will he do that better with a red tie on, who knows.

You are screwed either way down in England for the best part of a generation waiting for a half competent opposition to the tories to pitch up who are able to bridge the gap between your red wall types and your left of centre remain voting middle classes so it's all a mute point.

At this moment in time, I'd rather have pretty much anyone but Johnson in power. The bloke struggles to make a coherent sentence.

I’d rather have pretty much anyone but Johnson in power.

I said that about Cameron.

And then May.

Be careful what you wish for.

As good as it will be to have someone else sticking the boot into bozo, to anyone who voted for Brexit he’s just another remainer who tried to frustrate Brexit. I can’t see him helping win back any red wall voters. Hopefully I’m wrong.

This. Would've though LibDems would be a more natural fit for him.

At this moment in time, I’d rather have pretty much anyone but Johnson in power. The bloke struggles to make a coherent sentence.

You need to partake of a soothing medicament if you think Bercow is any better than Johnson

Not a Bercow fan but he is better than Johnson by a large distance. He was also a better speaker than the melt we have now.

I said that about Cameron.

And then May.

Be careful what you wish for.

You need to partake of a soothing medicament if you think Bercow is any better than Johnson

You'd have to be a rabid brexiter to think he could possibly be any worse.

@bails > precisely.

If the leadership race is between Pob and the Esteemed Member for the 19th Century, we've properly screwed the pooch.

He can put the boot in to Johnson and the Government generally, but he won't be representing a party and so personal baggage won't matter so much. This raises his profile a bit, and gives him some standing to oppose without representing any opposition party. A good position for a loose cannon to be in.

I had assumed he would be made a Lord come the next non-Conservative government come what may, I don't think he needed to do this to ensure that.

In the current atmosphere of nothing going right for Labour, I expect this to somehow backfire.

I said that about Cameron.

And then May.

Be careful what you wish for.

They do seem to be getting worse in recent times but not worse decade on decade once we include the likes of Thatcher and IDS.

He’s just trolling the Brexiteers as he knows that the mere mention of his name sends them into a state of spitting apoplexy

In the current atmosphere of nothing going right for Labour, I expect this to somehow backfire

I don't know having a short pompous egomaniac bully, with dubious views in his past, an eye for the ladies and the ability to use words that no-one in the real world does worked well for the conservatives

Just when Kier started to push back on the tired old trope of champagne socialists, along comes a new multimillionaire socialist who personally presided over the record breaking increase in champagne consumption in the Palace of Westminster.

I don’t know having a short pompous egomaniac bully, with dubious views in his past, an eye for the ladies and the ability to use words that no-one in the real world does worked well for the conservatives

🙂

My enemy's enemy is my friend.

Labour or Tory. No difference.

If he can be a face for Labour, doing press and sticking the boot in, f***ing happy days.

According to the FT this what the Tory Justice Secretary Robert Buckland had to say :

"As a former speaker, he is somebody who even though he has left office does carry a degree of authority like his predecessors”, he said. “But I think him joining a political party actually has the effect of diminishing his voice in politics however strong he wants it to be.”

I reckon that is a reasonable point to make and probably true. He will be seen as just another party politician with an axe to grind, rather than a wise elder statesman whose opinions carry more gravitas because he is above party politics.

Although to be fair imo Bercow would struggle to project the image of wise elder statesman full stop.

Greedy short-arse who caned the allowance system is the image that comes into my mind.

Labour or Tory. No difference

There really is.

I reckon that is a reasonable point to make and probably true.

I don't disagree with your somethingion.

However, what differentiates Bercow from many of his peers is, as far as I know at least, he isn't a self-serving moron.

Very few MPs are morons.

And FYI

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/24/john-bercow-expenses-claim-chauffeur-journeys

He was clearly taking the piss.

Very few MPs are morons.

I note you didn't challenge the other half of my statement just there.

I thought I had.

You don't think his expenses greed makes him self-serving?

There really is.

Aye, one's red and the other is blue.

Freemarkets, militarism and monarchy.

Choose a colour.

And FYI

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/24/john-bercow-expenses-claim-chauffeur-journeys

He was clearly taking the piss.

... and so begins the obligatory smear campaign against people we don't like or perceive as a threat, by desperately dredging up articles from six years ago. You should consider applying for a career as a tabloid journalist.

Maybe he was taking the piss, but then so was almost every other member of the house. You know what the actual issue is here? He was allowed to. Someone somewhere signed off those expenses rather than rejecting them. No-one said it was wrong, no-one told him he couldn't or shouldn't, so what we've got here is a honey pot. If your boss told you that you had to do a site visit and a limo was an option, would you go "oh no, it's OK, I'll walk"?

I get a company car allowance as part of my terms of employment, I haven't done business miles in probably five years or more. Should I be going to HR asking them to take it off me? Am I taking the piss?

This is the same argument as Amazon / Starbucks et al avoiding paying taxes. They may or may not be bankrupt morally but they've done nothing wrong legally. If this is problematic then it's the law that needs attacking, not the companies.

I thought I had.

You don’t think his expenses greed makes him self-serving?

You challenged the 'moron' bit and ignored the 'self-serving' part in the same clause, you asserted that most MPs aren't morons. Why would that be? Do you think most MPs are self-serving?