John Bercow: How NOT to be transparent.

John Bercow whilst campaigning to be Speaker of the House of Commons:

"It is high time the house was run by professionals on a transparent basis, ensuring that we are accountable to the people who put us here."

John Bercow's office now he is Speaker of the House of Commons:

"These questions are not answered because it would imply we are offering judgment on decisions taken by the full parliament"

And what is the issue that his office is refusing to comment on?

A spokeswoman for Bercow said it would breach parliamentary "protocol" to say whether he had stuck to a wage freeze agreed by his predecessor, Michael Martin.

So, we have the Speaker elected to clean up the House of Commons refusing to comment on whether he has kept to a pay freeze that his predecessor - a man who stood down, in part, owing to his ability to rinse the public purse - opted to take. We have a Speaker who campaigned on his desire to be transparent refusing to be transparent literally weeks after being elected. I don't know, but this just doesn't seem to make much sense to me. Maybe I missed a memo or something, but my understanding of transparency is very different to that of Mr Bercow. In fact, I would say that Bercow's actions are the very opposite of transparent. 

Now, I *get* that he has to be neutral. I also think that maybe he should lead by example. So if the House needs to be more transparent, maybe the Speaker should defy convention and be transparent. Except there's that nagging doubt, isn't there. That doubt that Bercow isn't actually concerned with standing in judgment on the House. No, I suspect he can't be transparent because of what that transparency would show. I suspect that he didn't stick to the pay freeze, and is embarrassed to admit it. 

I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong. But that would be my challenge to Bercow - prove it. Prove that I am a cynical fuck by revealing that you didn't take the pay rise. Fuck convention and, on this issue, fuck neutrality. Give the House of Commons some much needed leadership and tell us the truth. Because the longer you hide behind your office and the excuse of protocol, the more clear it will be to your critics that you are just the same as what went before.