Bercow believes the Tory party has become xenophobic
Former speaker of the house of commons John Bercow has joined the Labour party, while launching a scathing attack on Boris Johnson’s Tory party.
The former Tory MP was speaker of the house for ten years before stepping down in 2019, and has revealed to the Observer in an interview that will be published in Sunday’s paper that he became a member of the opposition party a few weeks ago.
Bercow said the current Tory party has become “reactionary, populist, nationalistic and sometimes even xenophobic.”
Explaining his reasoning for defecting to Labour, he said: “I am motivated by support for equality, social justice and internationalism. That is the Labour brand.
“The conclusion I have reached is that this government needs to be replaced. The reality is that the Labour party is the only vehicle that can achieve that objective. There is no other credible option.”
“He is a successful campaigner but a lousy governor,” he said of prime minister Boris Johnson.
“I don’t think he has any vision of a more equitable society, any thirst for social mobility or any passion to better the lot of people less fortunate than he is. I think increasingly people are sick of lies, sick of empty slogans, sick of a failure to deliver.”
Bercow’s defection to Labour in the face of a rabidly right wing Tory party is not being reflected nationwide though, with Keir Starmer’s party falling further and further behind in the national polls.
Westminster voting intention — the latest from our poll tracker:
CON: 43.7% (+2.2)
LAB: 33.3% (-2.4)
LDEM: 7.4% (-0.2)
GRN: 6.3% (+1.1)13 Jun
Chgs. w/ the start of MayMore: https://t.co/C2F3jpmwxI pic.twitter.com/otj6KHgnQf
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) June 16, 2021
