In an embarrassing turn of events for the U.K. government, the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, said he would oppose U.S. President Donald Trump addressing the Parliament during his planned state visit.
“I feel very strongly that our opposition to racism and to sexism and our support for equality before the law and an independent judiciary are hugely important considerations in the House of Commons,” Mr. Bercow, the Conservative Speaker, told MPs on Monday night, to loud cheers from the House.
He said he would strongly oppose an address by Mr. Trump in Westminster Hall, the place where Mr. Obama addressed both Houses of Parliament in May 2011. Mr. Bercow’s standing as Speaker of the House enables him to block such a speech taking place. He said that while he had less control over whether or not Mr. Trump spoke from the Royal Gallery — the place where Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed parliamentarians in 2015 — the invitations to speak there were issued in the names of the Speakers of both Houses.
“I would not wish to issue an invitation to President Trump to speak in the Royal Gallery,” he said. “Before the imposition of the migrant ban, I would have been strongly opposed to an address by President Trump in Westminster Hall and after the imposition I am even more strongly opposed to an address by President Trump in Westminster Hall.”
Mr. Bercow was responding to an early day motion (EDM) signed by 163 MPs to not give permission to the government to invite Mr. Trump to speak anywhere in the Palace of Westminster.
Clear indication
“This is a hugely important statement from the Speaker and a clear indication of his thoughts,” Virendra Sharma, MP for Ealing Southall, who signed the EDM, told The Hindu . “Addressing Parliament is a huge honour which [Mr. Trump] will not be able to get and it also sends a clear message about what parliamentarians and many residents of the U.K. think of Mr. Trump.”
Speaking on the BBC Today programme on Tuesday morning, the Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said Mr. Bercow did not speak for the government. Mr. Trump was the “leader of our most important ally” and it was “manifestly” in the U.K.’s interests to work with him.
The British Parliament, has to date, been more outspoken in its criticism of Mr. Trump than the government. After the travel ban on nationals of seven mainly-Muslim states, the House of Commons held an emergency debate, and unanimously passed a motion describing the move as divisive, and counterproductive.
