Former UK House of Commons speaker calls Brexit Britain's biggest foreign policy mistake since World War II

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Speaker John Bercow blocks Boris Johnson's bid for new Brexit vote

It's unclear whether the British government has either the votes or the time to meet the approaching Brexit deadline; Benjamin Hall reports from London.

John Bercow, the former speaker of the House of Commons, said Wednesday that he opposes Brexit, describing Britain’s scheduled departure from the European Union as the country’s biggest foreign policy mistake since World War II.

“I’m no longer the Speaker, I don’t have to remain impartial now and if you asked me honestly do I think that Brexit is good for our global standing? The honest answer is no, I don’t,” he said in remarks reported by the Times of London.

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“I think that Brexit is the biggest foreign policy mistake in the post-war period, and that is my honest view,” said Bercow, who was elected to Parliament as a Conservative in 1997 and became Speaker in 2009.

The former Speaker said that he respects the right of Prime Minister Boris Johnson “to get Brexit done.”

John Bercow gestures during his final day as Speaker of the House of Commons Oct. 31. (UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor via AP)

“But there is an alternative view equally that is very widely shared and my own personal opinion is that Brexit does not help us,” he went on. “We are part of a world of power blocs and trade blocs and my view is that it is better to be part of that power bloc and of that trade bloc than not.”

Bercow’s anti-Brexit remarks are unlikely to surprise many U.K. political watchers. Bercow has long been accused by his critics of using parliamentary procedure to stymie Brexit on multiple occasions and for breaching the tradition that the speaker is politically impartial.

Bercow’s statement that he is now free himself from the shackles of impartiality was quickly mocked by Brexiteers.

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“Much wow, Bercow hid his opposition to Brexit so very well when he was Speaker.,” Mark Wallace, executive editor of ConservativeHome, tweeted.

Iain Duncan Smith, a pro-Brexit Conservative MP, said that discovering Bercow was a Remainer was “a surprise on the scale of getting wet when you go out in the rain,” according to the Times.

While popular with many MP's opposed to Brexit, Brexiteers have breathed a sigh of relief at Bercow’s departure, and are hoping for what they see as a more neutral stance from his successor, Labour MP Lindsay Hoyle.

Britain’s departure from the bloc has been repeatedly delayed due to a combination of issues related to parliamentary procedure, as well as votes in Parliament that have gone against Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s minority government.

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Voters in the U.K. will go to the polls Dec. 12 in an effort to break the parliamentary deadlock. Should Johnson’s Tories get an outright majority, the withdrawal agreement he negotiated last month is likely to face an easier path in the Commons. Should the opposition Labour Party win a majority, it has promised to extend the Brexit process and to pursue a different deal.

However, if Brexiteers thought they had seen that last of the former Speaker, they are likely to be disappointed. Bercow is due to publish a book next year.