House of Commons blasts ‘unacceptable’ John Bercow after naming staff in his book without permission
THE House of Commons has blasted "unacceptable" former Speaker John Bercow after he named staff in his autobiography without their permission.
His autobiography "Unspeakable" was released today, and includes a series of stories about his colleagues shared without asking.
He has now been blasted by the House of Commons, just days after a Parliament official said it would be an "travesty" if the remainer got a peerage.
A House of Commons spokesperson said: "House of Commons staff work incredibly hard to enable the effective functioning of our democracy and have a right to expect that their privacy be respected.
"It is unacceptable to publicly name current or former staff without their prior knowledge or authority, especially for the purpose of financial gain or commercial success.
"A crucial element of the work of House of Commons staff is to provide confidential, impartial advice to MPs.
"Breaking this confidentiality undermines this important principle and also places staff in a position from which they are unable to respond.
“In his book, Mr Bercow has chosen to name a number of staff who have never spoken publicly about their experiences or sought to gain publicity as a result. We condemn this behaviour and stand by our previous statement on the matter.”
It is unacceptable to publicly name current or former staff without their prior knowledge or authority, especially for the purpose of financial gain or commercial success.
A House of Commons spokesperson
It comes after ex-Commons official David Leakey accused Mr Bercow of flying into rages.
He said: "The red mist would descend, he would thump the table, ball out insults to me.
"He called me an anti-Semite once, was extremely rude about my background and military career.
"I've never come across that in my 46 years of working in the public service."
Last month the Lieutenant General said he would submit a dossier to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards outlining the ex-Speaker’s “intolerable rudeness and explosive behaviour”.
He said yesterday that it would be a "scandal that Parliament would struggle to live down" if he was allowed to head to the House of Lords.
"I spoke up two years ago as I felt no one else was speaking up," he said.
"He tried to intimidate me. This is a Parliament Me Too moment."
Mr Bercow denies all allegations of bullying.
In a damning statement, the Commons also stressed it had "zero tolerance for abuse or harassment".
It continued: “Parliament’s Behaviour Code makes clear the standards of behaviour expected of everyone in Parliament, whether staff, members of the House of Lords, MPs or visitors.
"We strongly encourage anyone who has experienced bullying or harassment in Parliament to submit a complaint via the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme."
A spokesman for John Bercow defended his decision to name members of staff without their permission in his newly-published autobiography.
The spokesman said: "Given there is a small but highly vocal group of people consistently seeking to blacken his name, it would be odd if Mr Bercow did not comment on their unfounded allegations and the reasons behind them.
"He was advised by Speaker's Counsel not to do so in detail while he was in office. He is therefore doing so now.
"If the book had not addressed these issues, he would rightly have been accused of serious omission.
"Critics are entitled to air their views. What they are not entitled to do is to make unfounded allegations and expect Mr Bercow to say nothing in return."
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