John Bercow has taken a lot of flak for his comments about Donald Trump. The Speaker has been accused of being an embarrassment to Parliament for saying Trump wouldn’t be welcome to address MPs during a state visit. But amidst all the fury, Bercow’s pre-emptive ban does touch on a deeper question about the muddled thinking in British foreign policy.
Several autocrats, many with poor human rights records, have addressed both Houses of Parliament: Emperor Hailie Selassie of Ethopia in 1954, Nikolai Bulganin of the Soviet Union in 1956, and his successor Alexei Kosygn in 1967, have all done so. And during Bercow’s time as Speaker, the Emir of Kuwait and President Xi Jinping of China, have also spoken in Parliament. It goes without saying that every one of these leaders has a considerably worse record on civil and political rights than Donald Trump, even if the early days of Trump’s Presidency haven’t been encouraging.
‘Kuwait’s government aggressively cracks down on free speech, using provisions in the constitution, the national security law, and other legislation to stifle political dissent,’ says Human Rights Watch. Kuwait’s
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