How does Bercow respond to criticism? He gives an interview to CNN unapologetically defending his right to support anti-Brexit "dissidents" and "help the House decide" which way Brexit goes – before going on a rant about "intimidation". Shameless. pic.twitter.com/be0ahXr7OG

— Hugh Bennett (@HughRBennett) February 1, 2019

John Bercow has given a brazen interview to CNN unapologetically defending his support for “minority, dissident voices” fighting Brexit and his right to “help the House decide” which way the Brexit process goes, before declaring without a hint of irony that “sometimes the Speaker’s role is just to stand up for the institution of the House of Commons and the principle of Parliamentary democracy”. Overruling the clerks to force an amendment through for political reasons against the rules is a strange way of standing up for that institution…

Incredibly, Bercow also goes on a shameless rant about how “if the Speaker is the sort of person who’s going to be cowed or intimidated by a ministerial rant… that person isn’t fit to be Speaker. I hope I always treat people with respect…” This coming from a man with an extensive track record of bullying and intimidating his own staff who was found to be at the heart of Parliament’s bullying culture by the independent Cox Report. He only needs to look in the mirror to see what someone who isn’t fit to be Speaker looks like…