Remove the Speaker? Vote for Nigel Farage.

John Bercow did himself no favours in the House of Commons yesterday.

In extraordinary scenes, he was accused of taking the side of Labour in a debate on British Airways strikes in which questions about Labour's links with Unite bubbled to the surface.

Bercow - a former Conservative MP - seemingly refused to allow Conservatives to ask about Unite's funding of the Labour Party... but allowed Labour MPs to continue their attacks on the Conservatives over Lord Ashcroft.

Speaker Bercow was then accused of taking cues from the Labour front bench.

The events are detailed in full by both the BBC and - more spectacularly - on the website of the Evening Standard.

This blogger has noticed that Speaker Bercow does seem a bit desperate to try and prove himself as authoritative, but his angry attempts at controlling Members of Parliament often make him look worse than the unruly mob he seeks to control.

He seemingly lacks the finesse, the decorum - and the authority. Moreover, he lacks respect across all sides of the House of Commons. Let's face it, he's no Betty Boothroyd, is he? Heck, he's not even a Michael Martin.

In examining the events of yesterday, it is important to note this was not solely a fight between Conservative MPs and the Speaker. Read the exchange involving Labour's Dennis Skinner:

Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab): In any industrial dispute, it takes two sides to cause a row. Will my right hon. Friend draw the distinction between the clean money that is given by the trade union movement to the Labour party, as opposed to a man who refuses to pay tax on £127 million and bankrolls the Tory party?

Mr. Speaker: Order. The hon. Gentleman has placed his point firmly on the record, but the Minister requires only the- [ Interruption. ] Order. The Minister requires only the briefest of replies.

Mr. Skinner: Why do you only stop me and not these others?

Mr. Speaker: Order. [ Interruption. ] Order. The House needs to let me address this. I must say in fairness to the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) that I did not stop him. He made his point, and I have no objection to him doing so. To be fair, I did not interrupt him. He had his say.

Mr. Skinner: You do plenty of interrupting.

Mr. Speaker: Order. I do do some interrupting when it is necessary for me to do so.

Moments later, over on the Conservative benches:

Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin) (Con): Does the Minister believe that the union leaders behind the BA strike should set an example and forgo some of their £150,000-a-year pay packets? Is not that another example of the arch hypocrisy at the very top of the Unite union?

Mr. Speaker: Order. I am sorry- [ Interruption. ] Order. Leave me to deal with this. I have to say to the hon. Gentleman that his question does not remotely relate to the issue that we are considering, and that is why- [ Interruption. ] Order. I do not require any comment or signalling from the hon. Gentleman. I am giving a ruling: the hon. Gentleman can listen to it and he can like it or lump it. I intervene- [ Interruption. ] Order. I require no gesticulation from the hon. Gentleman- [ Interruption. ] Order. His question was out of order. That is the beginning and the end of the matter.

How to win friends and influence people...

Of course, any member of the public who doesn't like him and happens to live in Buckingham has a easy way of getting a better Speaker elected...

A Speaker can only be selected from serving MPs. Defeat Bercow at the General Election, and he cannot continue as Speaker.

Lord Tebbit recently reminded Conservative voters that Bercow is now an independent and they should feel no obligation to vote for him.

So, perhaps those Conservative voters in his constituency might - especially on the basis of the debacle yesterday - be motivated to oppose John Bercow by voting for UKIP's Nigel Farage who is standing against him.