Sally Bercow was accused of demeaning the office of Speaker yesterday after publicly refusing to attend the funeral of Margaret Thatcher.
Mrs Bercow was invited to the ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral only because she is the wife of John Bercow, who presided over the Commons debate celebrating the life of Baroness Thatcher.
But yesterday she said she would not go because she does not want to join in the ‘attempted canonisation’ of the late prime minister.
Speaking her mind: Sally Bercow , pictured with her husband, Commons Speaker John Bercow, will not be attending Lady Thatcher's funeral
Mrs Bercow, an outspoken Labour supporter, said: ‘As Commons Speaker, John will be attending the funeral – and rightly so. But I’m not obliged to participate in my husband’s public life – last time I looked, this was the 21st century! John holds public office and an important position, not me.
‘Although I’m genuinely sorry that Baroness Thatcher has passed away, I’m not going to be a hypocrite and join in this attempted canonisation of her.’
Mrs Bercow also accused No 10 of leaking details of her decision not to go to the Press to try to undermine her husband.
She said: ‘I’m astonished that Cameron’s people haven’t got better things to do!
'It’s a predictably pathetic attempt to cause trouble for the Speaker – which has utterly failed – and a complete non-story. Margaret Thatcher wouldn’t have given a monkey’s whether or not I attended her funeral.’
Grieving: Sir Mark Thatcher leaving his mother's house in Chester Square, in London's Belgravia, today
Former Prime Minister Lady Thatcher being comforted by her grandson Michael Thatcher outside the memorial service of her late husband, Sir Denis Thatcher in 2003
Friends and allies of Lady Thatcher reacted with withering scorn to Mrs Bercow’s attempt to grab the limelight.
Tory MP Conor Burns praised Mr Bercow for his handling of the Commons debate but accused his wife of seeking to be the centre of attention.
He said: ‘I have to say this, John Bercow handled Tuesday brilliantly. He got exactly the right tone. Actually, Lady T was a bit of a Bercow fan.
'As for Sally, there’s the old saying: “She wants to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral”.
‘I don’t think Margaret was terribly interested in what she thought when she was alive. I don’t think it will bother her in death that she is not at St Paul’s on Wednesday.’
Fellow Tory MP Rob Wilson said Mrs Bercow’s views were ‘utterly irrelevant to both Parliament and the country’, adding: ‘Margaret Thatcher is a colossal political figure whose place in history is assured – why anybody would care what the wife of the Speaker thinks is beyond me.’
Loyal aide: Baroness Margaret Thatcher and Lord McAlpine, who has been invited to her funeral, in 2000
Preparations are underway near St Paul's Cathedral ahead of the funeral of Baroness Margaret Thatcher
On the social networking site Twitter, history researcher Mike Smith wrote: ‘Mrs Bercow will not be missed. Her shallow self-publicising antics demean the Speaker’s office.’
Mr Bercow was last night presented with a new headache, as left-wing firebrand George Galloway vowed to disrupt the plans for the funeral.
Downing Street yesterday said Prime Minister’s Question Time will be cancelled on Wednesday so that MPs can attend the funeral, but Respect MP Mr Galloway has said he will try to block the motion delaying the start of business to 2.30pm, after the funeral has taken place.
Ministers had hoped it would go through ‘on the nod’ tonight.
But Mr Galloway says he will take advantage of Commons rules which mean that if one MP shouts ‘object’, the motion will either have to be withdrawn, allowing PMQs to go ahead as normal, or the Government will have set aside time tomorrow so that it can be debated and voted on.
Mrs Bercow was invited to the ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral only because she is the wife of John Bercow, who presided over the Commons debate celebrating the life of Baroness Thatcher.
But yesterday she said she would not go because she does not want to join in the ‘attempted canonisation’ of the late prime minister.
Speaking her mind: Sally Bercow , pictured with her husband, Commons Speaker John Bercow, will not be attending Lady Thatcher's funeral
Mrs Bercow, an outspoken Labour supporter, said: ‘As Commons Speaker, John will be attending the funeral – and rightly so. But I’m not obliged to participate in my husband’s public life – last time I looked, this was the 21st century! John holds public office and an important position, not me.
‘Although I’m genuinely sorry that Baroness Thatcher has passed away, I’m not going to be a hypocrite and join in this attempted canonisation of her.’
Mrs Bercow also accused No 10 of leaking details of her decision not to go to the Press to try to undermine her husband.
She said: ‘I’m astonished that Cameron’s people haven’t got better things to do!
'It’s a predictably pathetic attempt to cause trouble for the Speaker – which has utterly failed – and a complete non-story. Margaret Thatcher wouldn’t have given a monkey’s whether or not I attended her funeral.’
Grieving: Sir Mark Thatcher leaving his mother's house in Chester Square, in London's Belgravia, today
Former Prime Minister Lady Thatcher being comforted by her grandson Michael Thatcher outside the memorial service of her late husband, Sir Denis Thatcher in 2003
Friends and allies of Lady Thatcher reacted with withering scorn to Mrs Bercow’s attempt to grab the limelight.
Tory MP Conor Burns praised Mr Bercow for his handling of the Commons debate but accused his wife of seeking to be the centre of attention.
He said: ‘I have to say this, John Bercow handled Tuesday brilliantly. He got exactly the right tone. Actually, Lady T was a bit of a Bercow fan.
'As for Sally, there’s the old saying: “She wants to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral”.
‘I don’t think Margaret was terribly interested in what she thought when she was alive. I don’t think it will bother her in death that she is not at St Paul’s on Wednesday.’
Fellow Tory MP Rob Wilson said Mrs Bercow’s views were ‘utterly irrelevant to both Parliament and the country’, adding: ‘Margaret Thatcher is a colossal political figure whose place in history is assured – why anybody would care what the wife of the Speaker thinks is beyond me.’
Loyal aide: Baroness Margaret Thatcher and Lord McAlpine, who has been invited to her funeral, in 2000
Preparations are underway near St Paul's Cathedral ahead of the funeral of Baroness Margaret Thatcher
On the social networking site Twitter, history researcher Mike Smith wrote: ‘Mrs Bercow will not be missed. Her shallow self-publicising antics demean the Speaker’s office.’
Mr Bercow was last night presented with a new headache, as left-wing firebrand George Galloway vowed to disrupt the plans for the funeral.
Downing Street yesterday said Prime Minister’s Question Time will be cancelled on Wednesday so that MPs can attend the funeral, but Respect MP Mr Galloway has said he will try to block the motion delaying the start of business to 2.30pm, after the funeral has taken place.
Ministers had hoped it would go through ‘on the nod’ tonight.
But Mr Galloway says he will take advantage of Commons rules which mean that if one MP shouts ‘object’, the motion will either have to be withdrawn, allowing PMQs to go ahead as normal, or the Government will have set aside time tomorrow so that it can be debated and voted on.