Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Tory MP moves against Bercow over Trump comments

John Bercow faced calls to consider his position
John Bercow faced calls to consider his position

Commons Speaker John Bercow is facing a vote of no confidence for his “wholly inappropriate” attack on Donald Trump.

Tory MP James Duddridge tabled the motion yesterday, arguing his colleague had “overstepped the mark”.

Earlier this week, Mr Bercow launched a scathing tirade against the US president to cheers on the opposition benches.

He insisted he was “strongly opposed” to Mr Trump addressing the UK Parliament during his forthcoming state visit, citing the chamber’s “opposition to racism and sexism”.

After calls to consider his position – and Lords Speaker Lord Fowler’s insistence he would keep an “open mind” – the speaker defended his remarks.

He told MPs he was “honestly and honourably” seeking to discharge his responsibilities to the House.

But Mr Duddridge, who represents an Essex constituency, argued that Mr Bercow – having expressed an opinion – could “no longer reasonably chair” debates on the subject.

He added: “He has overstepped the mark; he has overstepped the mark a number of times.

“But this most recent incident – where he used the speaker’s chair to pronounce his views on an international situation in some quite detailed and lengthy manner – is wholly inappropriate and it means he can no longer reasonably chair, as speaker, any debate on those subjects.

“This has been happening more and more often from this modernising speaker.

“This is perhaps the straw that has broken the camel’s back.”

The motion was tabled as the Commons rose for the week-long February recess.

Mr Duddridge claimed the level of support for it could mean the speaker, who has held the role since 2009, is ousted before MPs return to Westminster.

He added: “He doesn’t understand the degree of the anger in the House of Commons, the distrust in his role as speaker.

“I expect over the recess….the number of MPs speaking out, either publicly or privately, to journalists will increase and increase and it will be known his position is untenable, perhaps even to the point he doesn’t return on the Monday.”