Bercow under fire for change on hunting ban (From Bucks Free Press)

Bercow under fire for change on hunting ban

10:31am Thursday 20th January 2011 in News By Rebecca Cain

John Bercow

THE Speaker of the House of Commons and MP for Buckingham has come under fire for “changing his strongly held convictions” on the hunting ban.

John Bercow, whose constituency covers Princes Risborough, reportedly wrote a letter to a constituent from Buckingham at the start of the month saying there was a “compelling” argument for the ban and hunting foxes to kill them was “wrong in the 21st century.”

Before he was elected as speaker in 2009, as a Tory MP, he was strongly against Labour's plan to ban hunting with dogs in 2004 and voted against it.

Guy Portwin, master of the Kimblewick Hunt, which was previously The Vale of Aylesbury with Garth and South Berks hunt said that John Bercow was wrong on this and said: “We are all sorry that he has changed his previous strongly held convictions on this subject.”

He added: “The animal welfare arguments have been set out again to him and we are convinced that if he actually took notice of them he will come back to his original position.

“The Kimblewick hunt looks forward to the Conservatives fulfilling their manifesto pledge of a free vote on scrapping the Hunting with Dogs act in due course.”

The letter came at the same time as his Labour wife Sally Bercow wrote a piece for the Labour Uncut website, saying “with a bit of luck” the vote on a repeal of the ban will not take place at all.

David Cameron had promised a free vote on a repeal of the hunting act but no date has been set.

Leader of the UKIP Nigel Farage, who stood against Mr Bercow at the election last May for Buckingham, said “Bercow is the flipper to end all flippers” and “he has flipped on the issue of hunting.”

He added it was an issue that is close to the hearts of many. He said: “Those Conservatives that supported him in the election last year did so out of loyalty to him. He obviously feels that they do not deserve loyalty in return.”

A spokesman for Mr Bercow's constituency office said: “In this letter the Speaker was offering to pass on the concerns of this constituent to the relevant minister even though in the interests of transparency he was pointing out that these were not views that he shared.

“Parliament is not facing any debate on this issue and there is no conflict between serving a constituent and fulfilling his role as Speaker.

"It is Mr Bercow's duty both to represent his constituents and articulate his views to them as appropriate. His role is to be neutral in the chamber but not neutered as a constituency member."