Bercow cites a 1604 law as the reason PM cannot ask for another vote on her deal – law passed a year before the 1605 Gunpowder Plot
House of Commons speaker John Bercow appears pretty pleased with himself yesterday after blocking a further vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal.
He was accused last night of trying to stop Brexit altogether after invoking a law dating back to 1604 to scupper a further attempt by the PM to get her deal through the house, on the basis that a deal that has already been rejected twice cannot be put before the house again in the same format without fundamental changes to it.
The Speaker became more “Smirkow” than Bercow as he laughed when questioned (here) by Tory MP Sir William Cash about his 1604 citation intervention “whether there was any connection between that and what was shortly afterwards The Gunpowder Plot ?” – (The Gunpowder Plot 1605)
House of Commons speaker John Bercow yesterday blocking a further vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal.
To spontaneous laughter from the benches Bercow responded by saying he appreciated ” his sense of humour on what is extremely, nevertheless, an important occasion. I thank him for what he has said. I’ve always respected the honourable gentleman,” he replied almost smugly.
So as Bercow sowed the seeds for a gunpowder plot by potentially sparking a constitutional crisis, he also all but killed off a prospect of a vote before Theresa May heads to an EU summit on Thursday.
Pictures: parliamentlive.tv
