John Bercow’s spokeswoman quits after making partisan speech to Lib Dems
|
Version 0 of 1. John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, suffered a blow on Wednesday when his spokeswoman resigned after making a partisan speech at the Liberal Democrat conference in Glasgow. The House of Commons said Bercow had accepted the resignation of Justine McGuinness, a PR expert and a well-known Lib Dem, who said that she wished to pursue other interests. McGuinness, who used to advise Gerry and Kate McCann, caused surprise on Tuesday when she attacked the Tories, Labour and Ukip as a “collection of clowns” in a speech from the main platform at the Lib Dem conference. The Speaker’s staff are expected to remain above the political fray. Michael Fabricant, the former Tory whip who is a critic of Bercow, told the Daily Mail on Tuesday night: “The Speaker has to be politically neutral and has to be seen to be so. How then can he employ someone as his official spokesman who has nailed her colours to the mast in a political rant against the Conservatives and Labour? “This calls into question yet again the judgment of John Bercow. If she is still employed by him this evening after this then she should no longer be so. It is essential for the integrity of Parliament that the neutrality of the Speaker’s office is maintained.” The Daily Mail reported McGuinness as telling the conference: “The next general election campaign will be a really ugly business. The Tories will aim to buy the election with the millions of pounds donated to them by their hot money, hedge fund friends. “Labour will seek to steal the election, relying on an electoral system so biased in their favour that 35% of the vote could deliver them 55% of the seats. “Ukip will try and hijack the election, turning the whole event into an argument about Europe and immigration as Nigel Farage swans around suburbia selling himself as some sort of suburban, saloon bar Socrates. “And the one thing that will connect this collection of clowns will be a desperate determination to marginalise the Liberal Democrats, for what they all fear above all else is that once again the British people will put the balance of power into our hands. “The Lib Dems will offer this country a fair deal. Labour have their warped sense of the term equality, the Tories are welcome to their twisted notion of freedom, and Ukip are welcome to their utterly perverted notion of patriotism. Fairness is what we will stand for.” In a statement the House of Commons media office said: “After a year in post Justine McGuinness has offered her resignation to the Speaker, which has been accepted. The Speaker thanks Ms McGuinness for her hard work and commitment over the last 12 months. She has contributed considerably to the running of the Speaker’s Office but now wishes to pursue other interests.” |