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Full text of John Bercow’s resignation statement
Matthew Weaver Matthew Weaver
Here is the full text of John Bercow’s resignation statement.

Colleagues, I would like to make a personal statement to the house. At the 2017 election I promised my wife and children that it would be my last. This is a pledge that I intend to keep. If the house votes tonight for an early general election, my tenure as Speaker and MP will end when this parliament ends.

If the house does not so vote, I have concluded that the least disruptive and most democratic course of action would be for me stand down at the close of business on Thursday, 31 October. Least disruptive because that date will fall shortly after the votes on the Queen’s speech expected on 21 and 22 October.

The week also after that may be quite lively and it would be best to have an experienced figure in the chair for that short period.

Most democratic because it will mean that a ballot is held when all members have some knowledge of the candidates. This is far preferable to a contest at the beginning of a parliament when new MPs will not be similarly informed and may find themselves vulnerable to undue institutional influence.

We would not want anyone to be whipped senseless, would we? Throughout my time as Speaker I have sought to increase the relative authority of this legislature for which I will make absolutely no apology to anyone, anywhere, at any time.

To deploy a perhaps dangerous phrase, I have also sought to be the backbencher’s backstop.

I could not do so without the support of a small but superb team in Speaker’s House, the wider house staff, my Buckingham constituents, and above all my wife, Sally, and our three children, Oliver, Freddy and Jemima. From the bottom of my heart, I thank them all profusely.

I could also not have served without the repeated support of this house and its members past and present. This is a wonderful place filled overwhelmingly by people who are motivated by their notion of the national interest by their perception of the public good. And by their duty, not as delegates, but as representatives, to do what they believe is right for our country.

We degrade this parliament at our peril. I have served as a member of parliament for 22 years, and for the last 10 as Speaker. This has been, let me put it explicitly, the greatest privilege and honour of my professional life for which I will be eternally grateful.

I wish my successor in the chair the very best fortune in standing up for the rights of honourable and right honourable members individually and for parliament institutionally as the Speaker of the House of Commons.

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Ahhhh… When a seat is on a raised platform to oversee things. :sweat_smile:

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Hilary Benn, the chair of the Commons Brexit committee, whose bill designed to rule out a no-deal Brexit on 31 October was passed as a result of a procedural ruling allowed by Bercow, praises Bercow as a reforming Speaker who has empowered parliament.

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https://mobile.twitter.com/PriskMark/status/1171041567341195264

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https://mobile.twitter.com/BBCVickiYoung/status/1171082409854586880?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^tweet

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Bill to stop no-deal Brexit on 31 October becomes law after Queen grants royal assent
This is from the Press Association.

A new law designed to stop the government forcing through a no-deal has reached the statute book.

The granting of royal assent for the legislation was announced by the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords, ahead of the suspension or prorogation of parliament.

The new Act requires a delay to Brexit beyond October 31 unless a divorce deal is approved or parliament agrees to leaving the EU without one by October 19.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously branded it the “surrender bill”, claiming it took away control of the UK’s negotiations with the EU by allowing parliament to block no-deal.

Downing Street has said the government will obey the law, but repeated that the PM would not be seeking another extension to the article 50 withdrawal process.

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So MPs have to agree to a deal or agree to “no deal” by the 19th Oct for these statements to be consistant.

No Parliament (after today) until Queens Speech on 14th. 5 fucking weeks!

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I didn’t think this could become more of a dogs dinner than it is but jeez

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I don’t know. It seemed clear from the reports this morning that the government had been briefing its allies that it was possible to not really request an extension but not break the law. The one way that came out was to openly undermine the request at the same time as making it, which, unsurprisingly, seems to be against the law.

In short, I don’t think they have any idea what they will do, which isn’t to say they won’t come out on top in the end as I’m not sure anyone does.

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Always the chance that Boris gets one of the other 26 member states to block an extension beyond 31st October.

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“Stand down” is one of several specifically military uses of “stand” that include “to stand to one’s arms,” meaning “to maintain one’s position in the face of an attack” (the source of the idiom “to stick to your guns,” meaning “to not give in” in an argument, etc.), as well as “to stand to arms,” meaning to assume combat readiness and prepare for action. “To stand down” is the opposite of “to stand to arms,” and means to go off duty or relax from a state of readiness (“‘Stand-down’ was the corresponding order at the end of the Danger Period, used in like manner as an expression for a definite point of time,” 1925). The “down” in “stand down” doesn’t mean literally taking a seat, any more than the command “at ease” means to lounge on the nearest couch, but the contrast is to “on duty” status and alert readiness. “Stand down” first appeared in print in 1919, just after World War I, so we can assume that the term originated in that conflict.

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Hopefully you’re right, but there’s a few very right wing governments out there e.g. Hungary who might do it. Also, there’s got to be a point where other EU countries get tired of all the messing about and decide to end it by blocking an extension.

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What gets me is how long is this No Deal lasting for if we leave, 1 hour? 1 day? 1 week? 1 month? 1 year? 10 years?

Like are the Torys ever allowed to make a deal or would that go to all private businesses to fend for themselves?

Because even if 1 flight takes off and lands in another country a Deal has obviously been made, yes - no? Or a phone call or a Internet connection its the same, a deal must have been made or are we really leaving EVERYTHING BEHIND?

I’m asking the leavers atm in my work about this as I’m a dumbass idiot and their confused too, like how do I watch or travel to see my team play abroad? If there’s No deals, can I post a postcard to a relative abroad at Christmas?

Some are laughing at me & saying I’m trolling but I’m not, if it’s a no deal we can’t do shit until a deal is made just to post a fucking postcard.

1 leaver told me Amazon would still post her stuff out at Xmas? I asked how, if mister No deals and her as a leaver wanted No deals how now she wants a deal for Amazon? But why? Xmas… Is 7 weeks after No deals I said, she thinks it’s all worked out by then. WTF? You voted for No deals I said. She left shouting at me for being A dumbass Idiot.

Laters all.

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https://mobile.twitter.com/IamHappyToast/status/1171050051860422657

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No deal means that the UK falls back onto WTO rules (huge tariffs on many types of goods including food and cars), alongside the economic powerhouse that is Mauritania.

It will last as long as it takes the UK to negotiate trade agreements to replace the ones negotiated by the EU for its member states, ie decades.

Remember how 3 years ago Fox and Davis assured everyone that getting great trade deals with countries was going to be so easy? Well, they lied.

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https://mobile.twitter.com/McrMomentum/status/1171111379035729920

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Yet not 1 brexiter could tell me that today, I genuinely think I scared a few today that they might miss TheRangers in Europe.
And SKY might be cancelled by the 31st October. :sweat_smile::sweat_smile::sweat_smile:

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709

We’ve got a very good plan for that to be fair. We’re going to temporarily drop tariffs to 0 on something like 87% of imports, thus incentivising other nations to do likewise due to their sense of decency and fair play.

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710

Some Torys be saying (Sir John Redmond) that the No deal bill passed today and given Royal Consent is actually not a Law but a political order. :thinking:

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All the legal eagles I’ve seen commenting on it have said that not following it will be breaking the law and Johnson could either go to jail or the Queen could legitimately replace him as he acted illegally and doesn’t even have a working majority (witness the number of lost Hoc votes) - though that last option is quite unlikely to actually happen given Buck House’s reluctance to get involved in politics beyond the perfunctory opening/closing of Parliament and “appointing” a PM.

Plus I don’t know if you remember him from the 90s but Redwood is a certifiable nutcase. Even Tories used to joke that he looked and sometimes sounded like an alien.

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The only thing that’s keeping me sane atm is that I think it was Amber Rudds chief of staff who said that another cabinet minister can go and get the extension, and I think that’s what will happen.