United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum
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In discussions in the British House of Commons, things are much louder and coarser than in the German Bundestag. Parliament President John Bercow has to bring the MPs in London again and again to the Reason: The penetrating "Ooooooorder" of the 56-year-old is now world famous. On Thursday - only a few weeks until Brexit, the mood in London accordingly strained - was suddenly nothing more at Bercow, the voice failed several times, he cleared his throat between the "order" calls.
An MP came to the rescue - and offered the parliamentary president a lozenge. Finally, Bercow himself addressed the obvious problem: "Do not worry, it will not last long," he assured the MP. His office said on request of Reuters news agency, "The simple truth is that he has a sore throat."
Hoarse Speaker John Bercow, famous for his volume in the House of Commons, appears to have lost his voice.
With 28 days left till #Brexit, find out how close the UK is from leaving the EU with or without a deal: https://t.co/y1D47WyeQn pic.twitter.com/7EZLR0qDAf
Bercow had recently been very dissatisfied with the tone that MEPs used in the debates. He urged everyone to lower their volume and "treat each other as enemies rather than enemies." Both on the government side and in the opposition a few days ago rage and a poisoned atmosphere prevailed during the session - this had to change.
Above all, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had been criticized by his choice of words. He spoke of "surrender" and "betrayal" in view of the long overdue EU exit. Members of his Conservative Party and the opposition criticized the warrior rhetoric of the head of government as "repugnant" and "disrespectful".
"The atmosphere in the chamber was worse than anything I've experienced in my 22 years in the lower house," Bercow said afterwards. Britain faces the most difficult political situation in decades with regard to the planned EU exit. A few weeks ago, Bercow announced that he would resign from his post (for all the background, click here).
In the video: Memorable performances by John Bercow
UK Parliament / Jessica Taylor / REUTERS
Because of similar voice problems in 2017, the then Prime Minister Theresa May involuntarily caused ridicule when she wanted to speak clearly hoarse about her Brexit plan. Before that, she had been holding tough talks with EU officials on Brexit.
