Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Michael Fabricant sharpens his attack on John Bercow

MPs are continuing to chip away at John Bercow as best they can. At questions following the Business Statement in the Commons this morning, Simon Burns repeated his question about that ‘floating’ letter that he mentioned after Prime Minister’s Questions and which the Prime Minister has been joking about to Tory MPs.

Hague pointed out that ‘things do not float around in Number 10. That is not the way Number 10 operates, I’m very pleased to say. The Prime Minister has received a letter this week from you, Mr Speaker, I’m sure you don’t mind me saying, in which you ask that the appointment of Carol Mills is delayed further until a clear way forward on this issue has been agreed. And so that is the current status of the letter rather than any… floating.’

But the issue remained floating about the Chamber, and sure enough, at the end of the session, up popped Michael Fabricant and Simon Burns to press further questions. Fabricant wanted to get the Speaker’s response to his letter, published on Coffee House yesterday, in which he suggested the Speaker may have inadvertently misled the House. Bercow said:

‘Let me reiterate to him that I believe him to be incorrect. The panel, of which I was chair, was briefed about all of the applicants for the post of Clerk and Chief Executive and I think he’s quite wrong to say that there was prevention of Saxton Bampfylde giving information to the panel, the panel made a judgement on the material with which it was provided, including a piece of information provided to it on the occasion of the second set of interviews. The panel made its own judgement on the basis of that information and did not see any need for a meeting as I think the honourable gentleman has in mind.

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