Yesterday James Duddridge, the Tory backbencher, tabled a motion of no confidence in the Speaker. It comes after John Bercow took the government by surprise on Monday by declaring that President Trump was not welcome to address Parliament on his upcoming state visit. Given that Trump had expressed no desire to do so and several world leaders with questionable human rights records have been welcomed by the Speaker in the past, Bercow’s comments have led to calls for him to resign.
As the row rumbles on, the Beeb have now followed suit and banned Trump from This Week. Explaining the decision, Andrew Neil said that after careful consideration the BBC team had come to the conclusion that Trump was just not welcome on the show — even though he had never asked to be on the show:
‘I appreciate that he’s expressed no interest in doing so anyway, but that won’t stop me doing a bit of grandstanding and virtue signalling before the rest of the media and the wider public.
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