John Bercow branded a hypocrite for banning Trump from speaking in Parliament

House of Commons speaker John Bercow.BBC

LONDON — House of Commons Speaker John Bercow has been accused of hypocrisy for his plan to ban US President Donald Trump from addressing Parliament when he visits Britain later this year.

Bercow grabbed international headlines on Monday when he announced to MPs that he doesn’t intend to allow Trump to speak to MPs when he makes a state visit.

He cited Parliament’s strong opposition to “racism and to sexism” and its “support for equality before the law and an independent judiciary” as reasons why it should not play host to Trump when he visits.

However, his critics have pointed to a list of controversial world leaders that Bercow has previously welcomed to speak to Parliament.

In 2015, for example, Bercow said it was his “pleasure” to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping, despite China being accused of a host of human rights abuses. The year before he played host to President of Singapore Tony Tan Keng Yam, even though male homosexuality is illegal in Singapore. He has also welcomed the leaders of Kuwait and Indonesia to Parliament in recent years, despite both countries having very sorry human rights records. Supporters of Bercow have pointed out that none of these were given permission to speak in Westminster Hall itself.

However, Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi said that Bercow has opened “himself up to hypocrisy” and noted that many MPs were unhappy to see President Xi address Parliament in 2015. Conservative MP Alec Shelbrooke told the Sun: “It’s outrageous and he’s brought his office into disrepute.

“He’s supposed to be a referee not a player. He introduced the Chinese President on a state visit and he rounds up political prisoners and shoots them. But he opposes the democratically elected of the United States?”

Bercow does not have the power to block Trump from making a state visit to Britain. However, as Commons Speaker, he has the authority to invite or indeed disinvite visiting leaders to address parliamentarians in Westminster Hall. The last US President to accept this invite was Barack Obama. The Speaker said yesterday that to speak in Parliament was not an “automatic right” but an “earned honour” that Trump does not deserve.

Watch Bercow’s extraordinary speech:

Bercow’s speech came just over a week after Trump triggered global outrage by imposing a 90-day ban on people from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the US. The executive order sparked protests both in the US and worldwide. In London, tens of thousands of people gathered outside Downing Street as part of a nationwide evening of protest.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said on Tuesday that the government does not share Bercow’s position on Trump. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Javid said: “The government is very clear: President Trump is the leader of our most important ally, he’s elected fairly and squarely, and it’s manifestly in our national interests that we reach out to him and we work with him, and he visits us in the UK.”