MPs from parties across parliament have signed an amendment backing the House Speaker, john bercow, in an attempt to thwart Tory backbenchers' plans to oust the Speaker. Bercow has been under considerable pressure in the past couple of weeks after he stated that Donald Trump should not be allowed to speak in the House of Commons and that he voted to remain in the European Union.
MPs begin to back Bercow
On Thursday, Julian Lewis, the chair of the defence select committee, contacted MPs in regards to signing an amendment to the earlier vote of no confidence motion against the speaker.
Lewis removed the word 'no' from the motion.
Last week, Bercow invoked the ire of Tory backbenchers after publically stating that the UK government has a long history of opposing racism and misogyny before claiming he would not grant Trump permission to speak in parliament. A couple of days later, at Reading University, Bercow stated that he voted to remain in the European Union, adding that he believed that the United Kingdom would be better off in the EU.
Conservative, Labour, SNP, Liberal Democrat and Green party MPs have pledged their support to the Speaker. Further, Ukip's only MP, Douglas Carswell, has backed the Vote Of Confidence.
Growing support for Duddridge
James Duddridge, the MP that brought the no-confidence motion against the Speaker, expects MPs to break ranks over the coming days.
The international trade minister, Greg Hands, implied he backed efforts to remove Bercow by highlighting a tweet by Georgia Toffolo-a member of the 'Made in Chelsea' cast. Toffolo said: 'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. The House of Commons needs an IMPARTIAL speaker'.
Duddridge said that he was certain Hands backed the motion to oust Bercow.
Duddridge said: 'I think that we will begin to see more MPs break ranks over the course of the next week. Hands is an excellent minister who is a fantastic ally. It is the duty of the Speaker to be impartial. John Bercow has shown over the past ten days that he is far from impartial. His position has become untenable-either he steps down of we will oust him'.
The position of John Bercow will be discussed in parliament next week. A big turn out of MPs is expected to discuss the future of Speaker Bercow. At this stage, Bercow's position appears relatively safe, despite Duddridge's best efforts to oust him.
