Former UK House of Commons Speaker John Bercow has revisited his controversial 2017 opposition to then-US President Donald Trump addressing Parliament, describing the proposal as an 'extremely bad idea' during an episode of Celebrity Antiques Road Trip originally broadcast in 2025.
Bercow’s Original Objection
Bercow, who served as Speaker from 2009 to 2019, famously declared himself 'strongly opposed' to Trump speaking in Westminster Hall in 2017, citing opposition to racism and sexism. He later labelled Trump a 'big-mouthed thug' and proto-fascist. At the time, Bercow told the House of Commons that an address by a visiting US president is 'not an automatic right, it is an earned honour'.
Re-Aired Remarks
Driving through Brighton in a Rolls-Royce Corniche alongside antiques expert Sally Gunnell, Bercow said: 'I incurred much controversy in 2017 when there was an attempt to bring President Donald Trump to address the British Parliament. And I simply said, "Well, I think it's an extremely bad idea. President Trump has only just been elected and he's just imposed a ban on Muslims entering the United States and I don't think that we should invite him."'
He added: 'There were people who said, "The Speaker is not being impartial," but I said that I think that opposition to racism and sexism are very important considerations in the House of Commons and for those reasons we should not have him here.'
'All I can say is that nothing has happened in the intervening years to cause me to change my mind about that matter,' Bercow concluded.
Fallout and Legacy
Conservative ministers and pro-alliance MPs criticised Bercow for breaching the constitutional requirement for impartiality. However, opposition MPs and some government backbenchers privately or publicly praised the intervention, and the controversy effectively prevented a parliamentary address during Trump's subsequent state visits. Bercow has never expressed regret, stating he acted honestly and honourably to protect the dignity and values of the House of Commons.
