tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post5182916401026662446..comments2024-03-04T17:54:32.559+00:00Comments on Iain Dale's Diary: The John Bercow InterviewIain Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03270146219458384372noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-89401164033721290962009-12-15T09:52:20.025+00:002009-12-15T09:52:20.025+00:00Hed is trily the nastiest cockroach in public life...Hed is trily the nastiest cockroach in public life and if Farrage beats him you will hear me cheeringNewmaniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11922161971821380803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-91641728420080365002009-12-15T03:01:35.706+00:002009-12-15T03:01:35.706+00:00Every time he speaks, Bercow weakens his own posit...Every time he speaks, Bercow weakens his own position and that of his Party. <br /><br />No wonder Labour like him so much.<br /><br />It's as if he doesn't really care much about any of it.....except what he gets.<br /><br />Not without talent, but quite without principles.Tapestryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17267094484651413428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-997518305130739612009-12-14T19:41:18.200+00:002009-12-14T19:41:18.200+00:00He appears to be a king cnut, and does not have th...He appears to be a king cnut, and does not have the required integrity to be an effective SpeakerKate j Nordenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11258425521093439128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-16759322399447320962009-12-14T19:26:55.777+00:002009-12-14T19:26:55.777+00:00This is a very thoughtful and candid interview and...This is a very thoughtful and candid interview and what is particular worth noting is the way it has been totally misrepsresented in the press. Speaker Bercow doesnt have a preference for a seperate contstituency - but this is not how the Daily Mail reports your interview. The other thing that comes across is here is a MP who is both independently minded and from the Conservative tradition. He was never about to defect to Labour.This nonesense has come from Mad Nad Dorries who has become obessed about this issue. Thank heavens we have MPs like John Bercow in Parliament rather then Party robots. We should be proud that the Conservative Party has one of its former MPs in the Chair and someone who is a modern reformer as well. Go John - hope you beat that twit FarageVoice of Reasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04988921440543424448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-26566740328218115032009-12-14T18:23:41.564+00:002009-12-14T18:23:41.564+00:00And his wife has just been given the nod to apply ...And his wife has just been given the nod to apply for a Liebour constituency at the next general election...<br /><br /> The best of luck to FarrageMirtha Tidvillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07940977481295375071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-5696948873867600662009-12-14T17:51:09.558+00:002009-12-14T17:51:09.558+00:00I was interested to see the subject of PMQs approa...I was interested to see the subject of PMQs approached, but the answer was sketchy at best. I agree that the Speaker should be picking the questions, so we can get rid of plants once and for all. These planted questions leave me so angry at the waste of time. If the 'plant' questions were pushed back in by whips, they should be disallowed by the Speaker. <br />It would be nice to see a split of PMQ's for the House, and then a separate 'Leaders Question' session for the other party leaders and the PM. <br /><br />It is a pity that we didn't hear any plan to put pressure on the PM to answer questions, rather him seeming to regularly answer a question that suits him rather than what was asked. <br /><br />Plant Questions and the PMs slipping out of questions does leave me deeply angered, as it does others I know. That needs to be something the Speaker begins to deal with, along with Expenses and Policy Announcements.Bonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04257335545948067170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-31230015849959225022009-12-14T17:26:40.976+00:002009-12-14T17:26:40.976+00:00The idea of the Speaker, once elected by MPs, bein...The idea of the Speaker, once elected by MPs, being appointed to a notional "St Stephens" constituency is not a new suggestion. <br /><br />The idea is to avoid the voters in the Speaker's constituency not having a full choice of political parties to vote for - as looks likely in Buckingham. The Speaker could still be voted out by the MPs in parliament. <br /><br />There was a Bill put before parliament in 1963 promoted by various MPs including Richard Marsh and Jeremy Thorpe. The Bill was supported by many Labour and Liberal MPs but narrowly defeated by a number of Conservative MPs. <br /><br />See below an extract from Hansard in 1963 at http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1963/apr/24/mr-speakers-constituency <br /><br />In a speech to the House in 1963 by Richard Marsh MP, to create a special constituency (St Stephen's) for the Speaker, he said: <br /><br />"Your own seat, Mr. Speaker, in Westminster, will also be contested at that time. Already, there is a candidate from an extraordinary party known as the Fellowship Party. I understand, too, that a candidate has already been nominated from a party better known but just as extraordinary, the Liberal Party. Even more important in terms of realpolitik, there will almost certainly be a candidate from the Labour Party. The House therefore faces the position that it is now quite clear that at the next General Election Mr. Speaker's seat will be contested. <br /><br />That will be the fifth time that Mr. Speaker's seat has been contested in the last hundred years. In the first two of those contests, the Speakers concerned were Mr. Speaker Peel, in 1885, and Mr. Speaker Gully, in 1895, and both contests arose in rather different and rather special circumstances. But the contests for Mr. Speaker's seat in 1935 and 1945 and the contest for that seat at the next General Election arise, in my view?and I put this for the consideration of the House?from the failure of the present arrangements to satisfy two conflicting aims." <br /><br />He went on to say: <br /><br />" It is not the function of a Member of Parliament merely to be able to raise constituency issues on behalf of his constituents. In a democracy, it is the right of an elector to be able to pronounce on the big political, international and economic issues of the day, and as long as Mr. Speaker's seat is, by tradition, not contested, the electors within that constituency are deprived of the opportunity properly of expressing their political point of view on the big issues of the day. <br /><br />For that reason, it is important that we should see whether there is some way in which we can achieve both these aims. I am suggesting, in my proposed Bill?and it is not a particularly new idea?that there shall be constituted a special, and a nominal, constituency of St. Stephen's which would be represented by Mr. Speaker upon his election to that office. Mr. Speaker would become the Member for St. Stephen's. There would then be a by-election in his former constituency, in which the electors would be represented by the party politician of their choice."<br /><br />David EvershedUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08374016751118621113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-52036231660413768382009-12-14T17:04:49.803+00:002009-12-14T17:04:49.803+00:00Bercow wants a new seat of Saint Stephen's, wi...Bercow wants a new seat of Saint Stephen's, with only MPs as the electors and with no party candidates, to which in practice the Speaker would always be elected unopposed.<br /><br />Still, good to see that he has written off his chances against Nigel Farage at Buckingham.David Lindsayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06839882674758833524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-711350478122389692009-12-14T16:50:53.198+00:002009-12-14T16:50:53.198+00:00Thats a rather nice interview. Glad to see he come...Thats a rather nice interview. Glad to see he comes across as human.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09523255925908875475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-65222095732447751862009-12-14T16:06:01.372+00:002009-12-14T16:06:01.372+00:00Nothing about his thoughts on Speakership traditio...Nothing about his thoughts on Speakership tradition (his clothing in particular)? Shame. Oh well.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15252054403352395221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-71213682022722046612009-12-14T15:18:15.726+00:002009-12-14T15:18:15.726+00:00I cannot stand the man. I hope UKIP get shut of hi...I cannot stand the man. I hope UKIP get shut of him.Johnny Norfolkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16900659617233793880noreply@blogger.com