THE House of Commons has blasted “unacceptable” former Speaker John Bercow after he named staff in his autobiography without their permission.
His autobiography “Unspeakable” was released today, and includes a series of stories about his colleagues shared without asking.
He has now been blasted by the House of Commons, just days after a Parliament official said it would be an “travesty” if the remainer got a peerage.
A House of Commons spokesperson said: “House of Commons staff work incredibly hard to enable the effective functioning of our democracy and have a right to expect that their privacy be respected.
“It is unacceptable to publicly name current or former staff without their prior knowledge or authority, especially for the purpose of financial gain or commercial success.
“A crucial element of the work of House of Commons staff is to provide confidential, impartial advice to MPs.
“Breaking this confidentiality undermines this important principle and also places staff in a position from which they are unable to respond.”
It comes after ex-Commons official David Leakey accused Mr Bercow of flying into rages.
He said: “The red mist would descend, he would thump the table, ball out insults to me.
“He called me an anti-Semite once, was extremely rude about my background and military career.
“I’ve never come across that in my 46 years of working in the public service.”
Last month the Lieutenant Generalsaid he would submit a dossier to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards outlining the ex-Speakers intolerable rudeness and explosive behaviour.
He said yesterday that it would be a “scandal that Parliament would struggle to live down” if he was allowed to head to the House of Lords.
“I spoke up two years ago as I felt no one else was speaking up,” he said.
“He tried to intimidate me. This is a Parliament Me Too moment.”
In a damning statement, the Commons also stressed it had “zero tolerance for abuse or harassment”.
It continued:Parliaments Behaviour Code makes clear the standards of behaviour expected of everyone in Parliament, whether staff, members of the House of Lords, MPs or visitors.
“We strongly encourage anyone who has experienced bullying or harassment in Parliament to submit a complaint via the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme.”
