The speaker of Britain’s House of Commons sparked a backlash Monday after announcing he does not want President Trump to address Parliament \u2013 with opponents accusing him of hypocrisy for having welcomed leaders from places like North Korea.\u00a0
Prime Minister Theresa May had invited Trump to make a state visit to the U. K. during her own trip to Washington last month. While travel plans have not been set, such state visits sometimes include an address to both Houses of Parliament.
However, Speaker John Bercow, who is supposed to be politically neutral in his role, said Monday he would oppose an address from Trump, particularly due to \u201cthe migrant ban.\u201d
\u201cAn address by a foreign leader to other houses of Parliament is not an automatic right, it is an earned honor,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter the imposition of the migrant ban by President Trump, I am even more strongly opposed to an address by President Trump in Westminster Hall.\u201d
For an address to Parliament to occur, an invite must be issued by speakers from both Houses of Parliaments, as well as the Lord Great Chamberlain on behalf of the Queen.
\u201cI 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,\u201d he said.
While the speaker\u2019s remarks were welcomed by left-wing politicians — with Green Party MP Caroline Lucas praising him for stopping May from \u201cpimping out Parliament\u201d — others were livid. Conservative MP John Whittingdale called Bercow\u2019s speech \u201ca performance.\u201d
\u201cIt was John Bercow playing to the gallery and I think it was damaging to the national interest,\u201d he told Sky News.
Bercow also faced accusations of hypocrisy. U. K. political blog Guido Fawkes noted that leaders from China, Kuwait, Indonesia and Singapore \u2013 all countries with poor human rights records \u2013 have been welcomed to address Parliament by Bercow.
\u201cBercow lavished praise on the human rights abusing leaders of Kuwait, Indonesia, Singapore and China, yet bans Trump to grab headlines,\u201d the blog said.\u00a0
Kuwait\u00a0has no laws criminalizing domestic violence or marital rape, while homosexuality is punishable by seven years in prison, according to Human Rights Watch. Bercow introduced\u00a0Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in 2012, calling it his \u00ab\u00a0privilege\u00a0\u00bb to welcome the emir to Parliament.\u00a0
Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi said in a BBC interview that the invite to the Kuwait emir \u00ab\u00a0exposes him to the accusation of hypocrisy\u00a0\u00bb in the wake of his Trump statement.\u00a0
Guido Fawkes also linked to a government document showing that in 2011, Bercow served tea to the speaker of North Korea. Former UKIP leader and Fox News contributor Nigel Farage reacted to the report by branding Bercow a \u201ctotal hypocrite.\u201d\u00a0
Bercow prefers North Korea to President Trump. Total hypocrite. https:\/\/t.co\/Zq5scSRkm4
10 Downing Street did not return a request for comment from Fox News. The speaker\u2019s office declined to comment on the accusations of hypocrisy.
Bercow\u2019s move is likely to further sour his already hostile relationship with Tory MPs. In 2010, Conservative MP Simon Burns called the 5-foot, 6-inch speaker a \u00ab\u00a0stupid, sanctimonious dwarf.\u201d Another MP told The Daily Telegraph in 2015 that Bercow is \u201cgratuitously unpleasant, nasty, bitchy and childish.\u201d
The Telegraph itself lambasted Bercow in an editorial Monday: \u00ab\u00a0No doubt this latest act of self-indulgent attention-seeking is another part of his legacy-building. In fact, he will go down in history as a Speaker whose arrogance and self-regard besmirched his great office. \u00a0\u00bb
Bercow\u2019s reputation for seeking the limelight also extends to his wife, Sally Bercow, who has appeared on TV show \u201cCelebrity Big Brother,\u201d and was roundly criticized by Tories in 2012 when she posed for a London newspaper in nothing but \u00a0a bedsheet, and called her husband\u2019s role an \u201caphrodisiac.\u201d
\u201cI never realised then how sexy I would find living under Big Ben with the bells chiming,\u201d she told the London Evening Standard.
In 2015 Bercow was subject to a coup attempt by then-Leader of the House William Hague \u2013 a coup reportedly backed by then-Prime Minister David Cameron, with whom Bercow had publicly clashed on a number of occasions.
While Bercow survived the vote, with the help of Labour MPs, his snub of Trump could embolden his critics.
Tory MP Nadine Dorries told the BBC Monday: \u00ab\u00a0When he loses support for what was a very partisan moment I think his position will become more and more in jeopardy.\u201d
Adam Shaw is a Politics Reporter and occasional Opinion writer for FoxNews.com. He can be reached here or on Twitter: @AdamShawNY.<\/p>\n