John Bercow spilled all about ‘former rival’ Boris Johnson’s ‘sneaky’ trick

Kate Garraway quizzes John Bercow on Boris Johnson

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

Mr Bercow hit headlines recently after bashing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, describing him as a “shameless narcissist”. The former Speaker of the House of Commons, who stood down in 2019, was talking about the ongoing ‘Partygate’ scandal that has marred the Government in recent months. Tonight, he appears on ‘The Weakest Link’, where comedian and host Romesh Ranganathan will likely slip in some quips about the politician’s tumultuous career in Westminster.

Despite having sat in the Commons for ten years, some of Mr Bercow’s most memorable moments came towards the end of his tenure and just after he was replaced by Labour’s Lindsay Hoyle.

Following his departure, he spoke at the Financial Times’ Banking Summit as the end-of-day guest.

Filled with reflections on his career and genius anecdotes, he revealed how Mr Johnson was his “former rival” in tennis, as the FT put it.

He let slip how the Prime Minister would occasionally play with a “ball without any fur” to win a “sneaky” point.

Mr Bercow went on to claim that Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, was “without doubt the cleverest member of the Cabinet”.

But, he added: “Would I like to walk in front of him? No.”

In June 2021, Mr Bercow delivered an extraordinary broadside against Mr Johnson and Conservatives after he switched his allegiance to Labour.

In an explosive interview with the Observer, he said he regarded today’s Tory party as “reactionary, populist, nationalistic and sometimes even xenophobic”.

JUST IN: Robert Peston blasted BBC for ‘pain in the a***’ decision

He said he had joined the Labour Party because he now shares its values and sees it as the only means to removing the current Tory Government from office.

He said: “I am motivated by support for equality, social justice and internationalism. That is the Labour brand.

“The conclusion I have reached is that this Government needs to be replaced.

“The reality is that the Labour party is the only vehicle that can achieve that objective.

DON’T MISS

‘Labour can back off!’ MP told stop going ‘on and on’ over Partygate’ [REPORT] 
‘New AOC!’ Farage predicts Meghan’s ‘hard-left’ political career  [INSIGHT] 
‘Disaster!’ Kamala Harris blasted in ferocious tweet as Biden ‘playing [ANALYSIS] 

“There is no other credible option.”

Mr Bercow took further aim at Mr Johnson and said that, despite his “levelling up” agenda, the Prime Minister has no interest in those less privileged than himself.

More recently, in January, Mr Bercow unleashed his fury at Mr Johnson when he said the Prime Minister was looking to “blame” as many people as possible on his Government’s recent failings.

Speaking during a special edition of his new podcast Absolute Power, he said: “He’s completely shameless, he’s totally narcissistic, he believes he’s always had his own way and that he should have ‒ and his instinct now will be to try and blame as many other people as possible and to do anything he can to shift the agenda onto what he thinks might be more fertile to reign.

“In fact, in respect of all the questions about Partygate, let’s be clear, fundamentally, he said the same thing over and over and over again with monotonous regularity, which was ‘wait for the Sue Gray report’.

“To which of course, the answer is, actually Prime Minister we don’t have to wait for the report to know whether you attended the party, you’ve accepted and acknowledged you did.

“We don’t have to wait for the report from Sue Gray to know you were exceptionally foolish and ill-judged to do what you did.”

He added: “So it’s all very well to say ‘I’m sorry and I take responsibility’, but what do the words ‘I take responsibility’ mean?

“Was he saying, ‘I’ve behaved so foolishly, I’ve so let myself down and I’ve so let the Government down, I’ve so let the house down, I’ve so let the country down that I tender my resignation.’

“No, anything but. In fact, now we can see the papers are rife with speculation that he is busily drawing up plans for scapegoats. In other words, ‘let’s get rid of someone else from his or her job so I can keep mine.’

“Does that surprise me? Absolutely not ‒ this is in keeping with the Prime Minister’s deluded and narcissistic personality.”

‘The Weakest Link’ airs at 7:40pm on BBC One.

Source: Read Full Article