Bercow under pressure over bullying in Westminster
Inquiry’s damning verdict questions whether change can be delivered under current administration
JOHN BERCOW yesterday faced pressure to quit as Speaker of the House Commons after a damning report found bullying and sexual harassment in Parliament was allowed to “thrive” because of a culture of “deference, subservience, acquiescence and silence”.
An independent inquiry into harassment in the Commons concluded it would be difficult to deliver the necessary changes to restore staff confidence with the “current senior House administration” in place.
Last night Sir Kevin Barron, outgoing chairman of the standards and privileges committee, called for Mr Bercow to resign. He wrote in The Times that a “change in culture has to come from the top” and that Mr Bercow is no longer the “correct person to provide that leadership”.
The report did not identify any specific individuals but defined the House authorities as including the House of Commons Commission, which is chaired by Mr Bercow, and the Speaker’s Office itself.
The investigation into the toxic culture in Westminster did not take into account specific allegations, including claims against Mr Bercow that he had bullied his former private secretary, which he has always denied.
But the findings will pile pressure on Mr Bercow to stand down from the role he has held since 2009.
The inquiry, led by Dame Laura Cox QC, the former High Court judge, was launched earlier this year after BBC2’S Newsnight highlighted a series of allegations of bullying and harassment.
The inquiry found staff felt they were treated like “servants”, female employees faced sexist behaviour like always being asked to make the tea and MPS regularly told workers “you’re f----useless”.
The report highlighted numerous allegations of sexual harassment made exclusively against male MPS – many of whom are still in post.
Those allegations included “frequent inappropriate touching” and MPS trying to kiss staff. The inquiry also heard reports of groups of male MPS subjecting women to “lewd comments or sexual gestures”.
Half a dozen MPS are reportedly involved in “very serious” alleged cases of bullying, harassment and sexual harassment.
Dame Laura said House staff who came forward expressed the view that “it will take several generations until the senior administration are capable of delivering the necessary changes”.
“On this basis, I find it difficult to envisage how the necessary changes can be successfully delivered, and the confidence of the staff restored, under the current senior House administration.”
Dame Laura said many staff believed working in Parliament was “a privilege”, but she said: “That sense of loyalty has been tested to breaking point by a culture... in which bullying, harassment and sexual harassment have been able to thrive and have long been tolerated and concealed.”
Dame Laura recommended that a previously announced independent complaints and grievance scheme should be amended so that House employees with complaints involving historical allegations could access it.
She also said steps should be taken to ensure MPS “play no part” in the investigation of complaints against them.
Maria Miller, of the Women and Equalities Select Committee, described the report as a “damning indictment of the leadership of the House of Commons, and that includes the Speaker”.
A spokesman for the Speaker’s Office said: “The House of Commons Commission will meet as a matter of urgency in the coming days to consider the report and our response to it.”
Last night, Kate Green, a Labour MP who voted against Mr Bercow being investigated over bullying, was elected unopposed as the chairman of the Commons standards committee.