Remainer Speaker John Bercow Met With EU Counterpart to Stymie A Clean Brexit
British Parliament Speaker John Bercow met with European Union President David Sassoli to discuss how best to prevent Britain from making a clean break with the EU, Sassoli revealed on the floor of the European parliament on Wednesday.
Sassoli, whose position is equivalent to Bercow’s former post as Parliament speaker, revealed on Wednesday that the two met in Brussels and were on the “same wavelength” regarding Brexit.
“We share an awareness that a chaotic exit of the UK from the EU would work to the detriment of citizens on both sides,” Sassoli told European Parliament members.
British supporters of Brexit were furious at the news, accusing Bercow of working behind the country’s back while his position as Parliament Speaker is supposed to be impartial.
“What right does the Speaker have to do this?” tweeted Brexit party leader Nigel Farage, adding that Bercow’s actions were “disgraceful.”
Chairman of the Brexit Party Richard Tice declared, “we Brexit Party MEPs nearly fell off our chairs, gobsmacked” when Sassoli revealed the meetings.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly vowed to exit the European Union by October 31, with or without an agreement with the EU that would ensure orderly trade and immigration processes continue.
Johnson suspended the British Parliament in early September in what many saw as an attempt to silence debate on leaving the EU in the run-up to the planned October 31 exit. Bercow strongly protested the suspension at the time, deeming it “an act of executive fiat.”
Then, on September 24 the British supreme court ruled the suspension of Parliament illegal.
Bercow has promised to resign by October 31. While Johnson and other ministers have framed Parliament as frustrating the will of the people when dealing with Brexit, Bercow declared himself unmoved, telling CNN the attacks on Parliament are “unworthy. They don’t amount to a row of beans, and I’m not at all intimidated by them.”
