John Bercow clashed with a Tory MP over his handling of complaints on his final day as Commons Speaker.
Mr Bercow was accused of “defending the indefensible” to the “fag end” of his career by long-term nemesis Andrew Bridgen yesterday.
Mr Bridgen complained that the Speaker did not act early enough over allegations about disgraced Labour MP Keith Vaz, who was suspended from the Commons for six months this week after he was found to have “expressed willingness” to purchase cocaine for male prostitutes.
He said: “It’s clear to me and it will be clear to the public that to the fag end of your tenure in that chair you are defending the indefensible and your very close relationship with Mr Vaz.
“The House can come to its own conclusions, the Standards Committee has come to its own conclusions and, Mr Speaker, the public will come to theirs.”
Mr Bercow said he was sure the public would come to their own conclusions, adding: “He can try to smear me. He will get the square root of nowhere.”
The tense exchanges came after MPs had spent almost three hours paying tribute to the Speaker as he prepared to stand down after 10 years in the chair.
Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg led the tributes to Mr Bercow, saying he believed the good he had done should be “heralded” on his final day in the chair.
He said Mr Bercow’s use of words such as “chunter” and “dilate” had been popularised during his time in the role and praised him as the “backbenchers’ champion”.
The SNP’s Pete Wishart added: “The way we do business in this chamber is now forever changed because of your speakership. You have pioneered and you have transformed.”
Mr Bercow served as a Conservative MP for 12 years before being elected as Speaker in 2009.
The election of his replacement will begin on Monday.
