John Bercow staying on as Speaker makes a no-deal Brexit less likely | Katy Balls

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Pro-EU MPs will welcome Bercow’s perceived partiality – but his eventual successor could lean the other way

The Tories don’t agree on much these days. Some even want a general election now as a way to deliver what they view as a true Brexit. However, they can all get behind some good, old-fashioned John Bercow bashing. Ministers report that the only good cabinet meetings these days are those where they can go around slagging off the House of Commons Speaker over his latest – aggravating – decision on Brexit.

So Bercow’s announcement that he has no plans to step down this summer – or in the foreseeable – will be generally ill received in the Tory party. When it comes to the challenges any Conservative leader faces delivering Brexit, the Speaker ranks in the top three – alongside a hung parliament and Brussels’ reluctance to renegotiate.

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from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WtXRSB

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