THE FORMER Commons Speaker has said he will not apologise after a damning report found he was a "serial bully" and "serial liar".
John Bercow has also been administratively suspended from the Labour Party as an investigation takes place, with a decision on the future of his membership to follow, it is understood.
The former Conservative MP defected to Labour two years after quitting as speaker in 2019, and appeared at the party conference last year.
A report into his conduct during his time as speaker, which was published today, recommended he never be allowed a pass to access the Houses of Parliament.
Speaking to news outlets after the ruling, Mr Bercow said he did not "believe in apologising when there’s no just cause."
Speaking to the PA agency, he said: "I’m sorry to say this, but I have to repeat that I don’t believe in faux apologies.
“I’ve apologised… many times in my life, to my wife, to members of my family, to friends, if I’ve erred, if I’ve made a mistake, if I’ve misrepresented them, if I’ve got the wrong end of the stick.
“I’m not too big to apologise, but I don’t believe in apologising when there’s no just cause.”
The suspension by Labour comes after Parliament’s Independent Expert Panel (IEP) backed a decision by parliamentary standards commissioner Kathryn Stone to uphold 21 allegations against Mr Bercow from three complainants, all working in Parliament between 2009 to 2014.
Mr Bercow appealed against the commissioner’s findings to the independent panel but it upheld her verdicts without exception.
Former Commons leader Dame Andrea Leadsom urged Labour to expel their high-profile member following the publication of the IEP’s report today.
The senior Tory MP told Times Radio that Mr Bercow was “incredibly discourteous” to people, and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer “must expel” him from the party.
“I had pretty much frequent run-ins with him and I saw the way he treated other people,” she said.
“I do believe it was unacceptable.
“And, actually, what is so awful about it is that the Speaker of the House of Commons is almost the sort of highest authority here, you know, he or she is responsible for behaviour in the House of Commons, responsible for the way that we run things here. And it’s just unacceptable.”
She added: “I think Keir Starmer must expel John Bercow from the Labour Party. There’s no doubt in my mind.”
It then emerged Labour had administratively suspended him.
Mr Bercow said people should not “fall for the Establishment spin that I have been banned for life” after the report was published.
He said: " I can still attend debates with the help of a friendly passholder or go as a member of the public."
The former speaker said the case against him “would have been thrown out by any court in the land”, as he claimed it was “based on the flimsiest of evidence” and “rooted in hearsay and baseless rumour”.
He suggested a “vengeful vendetta” had been mounted against him.
“It is a travesty of justice and brings shame on the House of Commons,” he said.
“This has been a protracted, amateurish and unjust process which would not have survived five minutes’ scrutiny in court. To describe what I have experienced as a kangaroo court is grossly insulting to kangaroos.”
He accused Ms Stone of hiding behind parliamentary privilege to “duck scrutiny and legal challenge”.
In a statement, Ms Stone said: “I am grateful to the Independent Expert Panel for their detailed and considered report regarding the conduct of Mr Bercow.
“Their report upholding my findings demonstrates my ongoing commitment to ensuring that the investigations under my oversight, and my subsequent decisions, are independent, impartial, thorough and fair.”
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