Thousands of people have signed a petition calling for John Bercow to lose his position as House of Commons speaker following his unprecedented attack on Donald Trump.
The petition comes after Tory MP James Duddridge on Thursday tabled a motion expressing no confidence in Bercow, having earlier told HuffPost UK that Bercow “overstepped the mark” with his comments.
Bercow, a normally politically neutral speaker, said on Monday that he would oppose the US President addressing both houses of parliament.
He said: “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.”
Duddridge said the comments were “wholly inappropriate” and earlier wrote to Prime Minister Theresa May asking if she would give ministers a free vote if a motion of no confidence were tabled.
The petition on change.org by Thomas Johnson, had, on Friday morning, reached 9,304 signatures.
A note on the page says Bercow made “an inappropriate intervention into UK foreign policy” by expressing his opinions on Trump’s state visit which may take place in June.
“Such a move violates Bercow’s convention on neutrality which he must upload as speaker,” the petition reads.
“Likewise, it poses massive complications for British Foreign Policy. Therefore, this petition calls for the public to issue a call of no confidence in Bercow and for him to be relieved of his duties immediately.”
Signees commenting on the petition have expressed similar sentiments.
Barbara Ann Savigar wrote: “He is supposed to be impartial . He has crossed a very dangerous line. He must be removed from his duties forth with.”
David Rees added: “He is supposed to be neutral and not operating under Globalist instruction! Very telling.”
“As Speaker he has to be seen (and heard) to be neutral, officially he has NO OPINION so he should be made to step down,or ‘take the “Chiltern Hundreds”,” David Woodhead wrote.
A tweet from Breitbart London editor Raheem Kassam features on the petition page saying the number of signees was a “bad omen for Bercow”.
Before he tabled the motion, Duddridge told HuffPost UK: “The Speaker has lost the confidence of the House. He overstepped the mark.
“He is not there to put forward his views, when he starts doing that he becomes incapable of representing the full opinions of the House of Commons.”
Bercow later said he was “honestly and honourably seeking to discharge my responsibilities to the House”.
Duddridge tabled the motion just before the February recess, meaning parliament will not be able to vote on it until MPs return on February 20.