At long last, the bullying report into John Bercow is out. After two years of claims and counter-claims, an independent panel has delivered its findings after Bercow appealed against the initial report by Kathryn Stone, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. Mr S has been slowly making his way through the brutal 89-page review alongside Bercow’s 87-page defence.
The conclusions themselves are conclusively damning, with the former Buckingham MP being described as a ‘serial bully’ and ‘serial liar’ who ‘repeatedly and extensively’ breached ethics rules. But below are some of the other lowlights from the probe, which looks set to kibosh any remaining hopes Bercow had of getting a peerage…
The range of accusations
The independent panel found Bercow’s behaviour ‘fell very far below that which the public has a right to expect from any member of parliament’. It upheld 21 out of 35 complaints against him by three former staff between 2009 and 2014. These were Angus Sinclair, the Speaker’s secretary, Kate Emms, his successor and Lord Lisvane, clerk of the House.
The Commissioner found that Bercow displayed ‘intimidatory’ and ‘undermining behaviour’, and ‘threatening conduct’ towards Sinclair, including verbal abuse, displays of anger, and seeking to humiliate him in front of others. He shouted at and mimicked Emms, created ‘an intimidating and hostile environment’, and was responsible for ‘intimidating, insulting behaviour involving an abuse of power’ towards her.
Bercow also subjected Lord Lisvane to ‘a sustained course of conduct… that involved
repeated unfounded criticism of the complainant… both publicly and
privately… often made at length and at volume and included derogatory
inferences about [his] upbringing and background.’
In total Sinclair brought seven complaints of bullying, four of which were upheld. Emms brought seven of which three were upheld while Lisvane had 18 of which 14 were upheld plus a further two for harassment.
The mobile phone incident
Sinclair, a formal naval captain appointed to his role in 2005, jotted down contemporaneous notes of his treatment in parliament in notebooks in his office.
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