Benn: Bercow for President!

Right-Wing Watch

King of Labour's Left Tony Benn today called for the Speaker of the House of Commons to be made President of Britain.

 

King of Labour’s Left Tony Benn today called for the Speaker of the House of Commons to be made President of Britain.

Appearing before Parliament’s Political and Constitutional Reform Committee this morning, the inventor said:

“I think the problem with a directly elected Head of State is a problem really you get a conflict between two sources of authority, someone elected by the people, like an American President, would have a degree of authority that they could claim was greater than the authority of those in Parliament, who are large numbers and divided and so on, so I prefer the idea of a titular Head of State, and strangely enough if you’re looking for a suitable titular Head of State I think the Speaker of the House of Commons would be perfect, he is elected by Parliament, he’s respected, he understands the constitution, and if you had him and a prime minister who’s really accountable for what he did I think that would be the best balance you could get.”

Watch it:

Speaker Bercow’s already got his Coat of Arms, so why not President John and First Lady Sally?!

See also:

• Monarchy “perpetuates inequality” says Plaid AM – Ed Jacobs, June 8th 2011

• Verdict of the British people: “Long to reign over us” – Daniel Elton, April 29th 2011

• Royal wedding guest list is an embarrassment to the country – Dominic Browne, April 28th 2011

• And the winner is… – Claire French, September 25th 2010

• More detail needed from Tony Benn’s call to arms – Will Straw, August 4th 2010

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35 Responses to “Benn: Bercow for President!”

  1. tangentreality

    What an absolutely awful idea.

  2. T Thompson

    Benn supports John Bercow for President? I can go with that http://t.co/FdbkDozr

  3. Phil

    Interesting idea. I’m usually against replacing the Monarchy because of the split of power that would occur, one in power in Parliament where the speaker is now makes sense. Having an impartial President elected by those we’ve elected is certainly more democratic than the current arrangement.

  4. DPWF

    Bercow for President, suggests Tony Benn(!) Actually, the more I think about it, the better an idea that sounds… http://t.co/c9hBgf6c

  5. Political Planet

    Benn: Bercow for President!: King of Labour's Left Tony Benn today called for the Speaker of the House of Common… http://t.co/EtAvrhlg

Comments are closed.