Bercow tells MPs he wants independent inquiry into misconduct claims

The Commons Speaker, John Bercow, has told MPs he wants complaints about bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct in parliament to be investigated by an independent, external body.

Bercow was answering an urgent question in the House of Commons in the wake of a damning report into bullying and harassment in Westminster by Dame Laura Cox.

The Commons leader, Andrea Leadsom, also told the same debate that she would do everything in her power to “stamp out all forms of bullying and harassment”.

Responding to the urgent question in the Commons, Leadsom told MPs: “I would just say to all honourable members, those who attempted to turn a blind eye, or to allow it to go on under their view is, as we all know: for evil to succeed, good men need only do nothing.”

Earlier, the chair of parliament’s women and equalities committee, Conservative MP Maria Miller, said Cox’s investigation showed “bullying and harassment is coming right from the top” and it was not right that those who were criticised in the report should be allowed to decide how it was implemented.

The shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, said it was not the moment for a change of Speaker. A Labour spokesman declined to say whether Thornberry was representing the party’s position and said they would not be commenting further on the Speaker.

Miller’s call for Bercow’s resignation came after the departing chair of the Commons standards committee, Sir Kevin Barron, said he no longer believed the Speaker was the “correct person to provide that leadership” to change the culture in Westminster.

“Questions about his own behaviour towards staff still linger,” the veteran Labour MP wrote in an article for the Times (£). “There is a feeling among staff that if allegations against the Speaker can be ignored then the chance of any other complaint progressing is slim.”

Bercow has emphatically denied allegations in a Newsnight investigation that he bullied his former private secretaries, Angus Sinclair and Kate Emms.

Miller told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday that she agreed with Barron, saying “the legitimacy of the House of Commons is undermined by having this sort of behaviour and culture prevail”.

She said: “The report is incredibly powerful and clear that what is the root problem here is that the bullying and harassment is coming right from the top. We have outstanding allegations directly against the Speaker, who will be one of the people who will be considering this report, and it cannot be right that the very people who are being criticised so heavily in an independent report are those who are going to be deciding how it is taken forward.”

Thornberry hinted Labour would not support efforts to remove Bercow, telling Sky News it was “absolutely not the time to be changing Speaker” because of the uncertainty surrounding upcoming Brexit votes.

“I don’t work with him on a day-to-day basis, but people who I know and respect do, and they say that he is a fine Speaker,” she said.

Thornberry’s remarks were immediately criticised by the head of the civil service union. The FDA general secretary, Dave Penman, said Thornberry was “putting party politics before people”.

In her 155-page report, Cox said there was a tradition of “deference and silence” that “actively sought to cover up abusive conduct” and gave no protection to those reporting bullying or sexual harassment.

The former judge was not tasked with responding to individual complaints, but said she had concluded “the levers of change are regarded as part of the change that is needed” and individuals should consider their positions.

“I find it difficult to envisage how the necessary changes can be successfully delivered, and the confidence of the staff restored, under the current senior house administration,” Cox said.

Barron said the house should take up Cox’s suggestion that a time limit on complaints be lifted as part of a new complaints procedure implemented in July, which will be reviewed in January.

“It is a sad truth that many staff feel they cannot make a complaint until they have left the employment of the house for fear of being penalised in their careers,” he wrote.

Barron said much of the work of the committee had been “undermined” by a vote in July to stop the publication of the names of MPs who were being investigated for wrongdoing, including for potential expenses fraud.

The MPs’ vote sparked an outcry at the time after the committee recommended anonymity only for those being investigated for sexual harassment, in order to protect victims.

“All this did was provide more ammunition for the people who say we will always mark our own homework and provide cover for fellow MPs,” Barron said. Parliament must “overturn that decision at the earliest possible opportunity”, he added.

On Monday, the Labour MP Kate Green was elected unopposed as Barron’s replacement. She was among three MPs on the committee who blocked an investigation into bullying allegations against Bercow by parliament’s watchdog this year.

Bercow had been referred for an investigation by Kathryn Stone, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, to examine whether he had broken the MPs’ code of conduct.

The committee can authorise inquiries dating back more than seven years “only in exceptional circumstances”. MPs on the committee voted three to two against the investigation, with Labour’s Bridget Phillipson and Gary Streeter, a Conservative, backing the inquiry and Green and the Tories Sir Christopher Chope and John Stevenson refusing to authorise Stone to conduct it.