Bercow Asks Labour “Comrades” for Forgiveness

Ex-House of Commons Speaker John Bercow has appealed to members of the Labour party to grant him forgiveness over his former role as a Conservative Party MP. 

Making his debut at the Labour party conference in Brighton on Monday, Bercow, who switched his allegiance from the Conservatives to Labour in June this year, earned a favourable reaction from the crowd as he referred to himself as a “rehabilitated offender” before asking if he was permitted to call Labour members his “comrades.” 

The former Commons speaker, known for his signature cry of “order, order” and controversial interventions into Brexit proceedings during Theresa May’s tumultuous prime-ministership, proceeded to tell the Labour crowd that he had been “misguided” as an adolescent to join the ‘Monday Club’ - a conservative pressure group formerly aligned with the Conservative Party - asking for “forgiveness.”

“I was completely wrong and it was utterly shameful, and I should never have made those reckless and stupid and nasty, bigoted decisions. But all I will say to the members of the Labour Party is that if you believe in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, as I resigned from the Monday Club in February 1984, I hope I am now forgiven.” 

In conversation with Guardian journalist Jonathan Freedland later at the event, Bercow asked his “comrades” to not “hold his rather-long winded journey” into Labour against him. He also applauded Labour’s conference as “distinctly friendlier” than the Conservative equivalent, adding that the Conservative Party is “cruel.” 

“The Conservative Party always used to be said to be ‘cruel but efficient’. Now, if they do not lose their reputation for being cruel, and there is no imminent likelihood of that loss, they have acquired a reputation for being inefficient, incompetent and incompetent on an industrial scale …  The task of the political craftsmanship of the Labour Party is to expose those errors clinically, repeatedly, persistently. The Labour Party has got to excite people. It has got to excite people. It is not good enough to just have a good set of good policies. I would go as far as to say, that my feeling is that the Labour Party in the next election doesn't need to have a vastly, detailed, lengthy manifesto with dozens and dozens of commitments …  The Labour Party has got to thrust to the fore alongside Keir who is a formidable prosecutor, a formidable advocate, and other personalities part of the leadership team, which can reach out to people and persuade people that they are different from and preferable to this shower, which frankly represents the worst government of my lifetime.”

Bercow wrapped up his appearance at the conference by describing Sir Keir as a “good guy” who needed to develop a “narrative” and “clear policies.” Despite the pleas of some Labour members, the former Tory MP said he would not look to start a career in the Labour Party, though he “absolutely” wanted to join a trade union.