Lord Speaker accuses John Bercow of insulting fallen US soldiers over Donald Trump snub
2 min read
Commons Speaker John Bercow has been blasted by his counterpart in the House of Lords after banning Donald Trump from addressing parliament.
Mr Bercow made clear in 2017 that he would move to block any parliamentary address by the controversial US President because of MPs' "opposition to racism and to sexism”.
But, in an extraordinary attack on Mr Bercow ahead of the American commander-in-chief's state visit next month, Lord Speaker Lord Fowler said the "unacceptable" move risked insulting a longstanding military ally.
"I find it unacceptable that we should even consider turning our backs on the elected leader of a country to whom everyone in Britain today owes so much," Lord Fowler told the Cambridge Union Society, in comments first reported by The Sun.
And he added: "I profoundly object to any attempt to ban the President when he is coming to Europe to mark the anniversary of the “D” Day landings when so many Americans were killed and wounded in defence of our freedom."
The Lord Speaker meanwhile warned that the snub would send out the wrong message on free speech, saying it "panders to those elsewhere who seek to ban speakers because their views do not coincide with their own".
"It also seems to me that if our role inside Westminster is to uphold the rights of backbenchers and their right to free speech it would be ironic to apply a different standard to the elected President of the United States," he said.
"It is my view that we should not stifle views we may disagree with or shy away from lively debate."
The bitter blast comes after Mr Bercow confirmed he would not be attending a state banquet for the US President put on by the Queen for next month's visit, with Labour's Jeremy Corbyn also staying away from the feast.
President Trump will start a three-day trip to the UK on 3 June, which will include talks with Theresa May, military displays in Portsmouth and 75th anniversary commemorations for the D-Day landings.
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