Gulp!

It's a point that probably doesn't need highlighting, but the news that the Speaker's wife is in some legal difficulty comes as no surprise. Not only another symptom of the fall in the prestige, and purpose of Parliament, but an outcome that in this case was entirely inevitable.

Michael Martin was ousted as speaker for the first time in over 300 years (created as a life peer afterwards as a punishment), so it is entirely appropriate for the ancient office of Speaker to be brought into such disrepute again as a sign of how far we have fallen.

Forgotten Victims...Again

On one level it's tempting to indulge in yet more schadenfreude as the BBC gets itself into a right pickle over its latest Newsnight allegations, as the fallout from the Savile scandal continues. But it's gone past that. Given that News of the World was closed on the back of hacking Hugh Grant's voicemail one wonders how much more serious it has to get before it's decided that the BBC is not fit for purpose?

When Labour MP Tom Watson raised his question at PMQs over concerns (rightly) that there has been a cover up on a previous abuse scandal, he must have known (probably deliberately) that it would over-excite many of a certain political persuasion. And so it's proved. What has followed has been ill-disguised form of gleeful Tory bashing - desperate to label the Tories as the party of paedophiles - including the likes of the Speaker's wife Sally Bercow and Guardian journalist George Monbiot. Amid all the mea culpa, undoubtedly some will be basking in the warm glow of 'mud sticks'.

Amidst all this are the victims, many who have remained quiet for years for fears of not being believed. They deserve due process and (hopefully) justice or at the very least their voices to be heard. Instead the serious nature of the offences is reduced to the level of tittle tattle on a television programme where basic 'research' involves plucking random names off the internet with which to ask the country's PM (Although one has to ask what the First Lord of the Treasury was doing on such a programme anyway).

Those of certain political leanings often put their hatred of the Tories over and above the welfare of others, or indeed the country, so it shouldn't be a surprise, but it's still pretty nauseating stuff.

Update: Looks like Tom Watson has pulled his site.

Is Bercow running scared?

Interesting little snippet in the Mail on Sunday, who claim that the Speaker is looking for a way out of a possible election defeat by UKIP's Nigel Farage:

Speaker John Bercow wants to switch to a new seat with only MPs as his ‘constituents’ so he can avoid a humiliating defeat by former UKIP leader Nigel Farage at the nextGeneral Election.

It would mean abandoning his Buckingham seat for the newly created one called St Stephen’s – the name of the old House of Commons chapel – where, effectively, it would be impossible to challenge him.

He put forward the idea amid speculation that he may struggle to defeat Mr Farage, who stepped down as UKIP leader to take on Mr Bercow in defiance of the custom where the Commons Speaker is not challenged by the main parties.

If the tradition ended, said Mr Bercow, it could be hard for any Speaker to survive for more than one parliamentary term.

Mr Bercow suggested giving the Speaker ‘a separate constituency, known as St Stephen’s, representing a small area around Westminster’.

The Speaker’s original constituency would hold a normal election and choose a new MP, he explained.

‘The Commons can always decide to do that if it wants,’ he told Total Politics magazine. If MPs supported such an idea, he would not oppose it. Ordinary members of the public would not be allowed to be ‘constituents’ of the Speaker’s St Stephen’s seat.

Any Election challenge would have to be made on an individual – not a party – basis, making it harder to unseat the Speaker.

Mr Bercow said: ‘It is both possible and necessary for the Speaker to continue to be a highly active constituency MP.

I suspect I won’t face major party competition – but I will face opponents.’

I'm not sure there would be enough time to get this through Parliament before the next election, and Labour will be unlikely to support a measure that gets the Tories off an uncomfortable hook.

That said this will be a big morale boost for Farage, it certainly gives him more ammunition to use during his campaign.

Could UKIP win their first seat?

Benedict Brogan has highlighted an interesting article in the Evening Standard which features an interview with the Speaker's wife.

John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, holds the safe Tory seat of Buckingham, and by tradition the mainstream parties don’t stand against the Speaker.

Usually minority parties don't pose a significant problem to the Speaker's seat, however at the next election it is my view that Bercow is rather vulnerable to Nigel Farage's UKIP challenge.

There have been persistent rumours that Bercow was poised to cross the floor to the Labour Party, his election as the Speaker was largely due to Labour MP's votes and so subsequently he lacks the trust of the Tories.

Added to that, Bercow's wife has announced that she will stand for Labour in the local elections, she then compounds the problem by criticising Cameron in the Evening Standard article:

He’s just a merchant of spin. I think he’s really an archetypal Tory. He favours the interests of the few over the mainstream majority

I would imagine that the fine folk of Buckinghamshire are not going to be happy.

More and more Nigel Farage's decision to stand against the Speaker is looking like a shrewd move.

One line in the article intrigued me though:

But now it's time for her "skeletons", as she puts it. Deep breath.

I can't help wondering whether this is a damage limitation exercise and that she was tipped off about an 'exposure' before Sunday's newspapers.