John Bercow has announced that he will stand down as Speaker of the House and said he could resign on October 31 – the current Brexit deadline. Following his statement on Monday afternoon, the Speaker lost his temper at one MP, telling them to “like it or lump it” during a standing order. Mr Bercow began: “The very large number of members standing in support of the right honourable learned general, I do note the very, very loud expression of opposition from the honourable gentleman member for Wellingborough.

“It is testament to the existence of more than enough support. Can I just say, and whether I can or not I’m going to, I do know what I’m doing in these matters – “

One MP interjected “so do we” before the Speaker continued: “And I do know the standing orders, and I do listen to the advice.

“Sometimes you get these pop-up characters who think they understand these matters on the basis of minimal familiarity with the said standing orders and presume to say that the rules have been broken.

“They are entitled to their opinions but suffer from the notable disadvantage of being completely wrong. I know what the rules are and what they allow, and this is absolutely in keeping with the standing orders.

“If there are people who don’t like the subject matter, and wold prefer it not to be heard and judge that it’s inconvenient, they’re perfectly entitled to their view, but it’s got nothing to do with the procedural propriety – “

He then paused briefly with MPs heard in the background accusing him of being a “bully” and one saying “come on John, have some dignity”, before the Speaker raged: “Don’t tell me young man from a sedentary position what I can and cannot say.

“If you’re not interested leave the chamber, I’m not remotely interested in your petty fogging objection, countered inelegantly from a sedentary position.

“The position is as I’ve described it and quite frankly young man, you can like it or lump it. The right honourable gentleman has obtained the leave of the House, people will understand that as far as the Speaker is concerned his job is to stand up for the rights of the legislature.

“And never have been, am not and never will be in the business of being bossed around by some footling member of the executive branch.”

Radio host Julia Hartley-Brewer reacted to the outburst, tweeting: “This is an absolutely extraordinary outburst from Commons Speaker John Bercow, just minutes after MPs lined up to tell him how wonderful he was.”

One Twitter user commented: “Absolutely appalling.” Another said: “I would call that bullying.” A third added: “Bercow has totally lost it.”

Speaking to the House earlier in the afternoon, Mr Bercow said that if the Commons votes in favour of an early general election he will not contest his Buckinghamshire seat.

But if the MPs vote down the motion, the Speaker will stand down on October 31. Mr Bercow said: “In 2017 I promised wife and children it’d be my last, this is a pledge that I intend to keep – if House votes for early election my tenure will end.

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“If the House doesn’t I have concluded that least disruptive course of action would be for me to stand down for close of business on October 31. Least disruptive because that date will fall shortly after the votes on the queens speak on the 21st and 22nd of October.

“The week after that may be quite lively and it may be best to have an experienced figure in the chair for that short period. Most democratic because it will mean that a balance is held when all members have some knowledge of the candidates.

“This is far preferable fro a contest at the beginning of a Parliament when new MPs will not be similarly informed and may find themselves vulnerable to institutional influence.”

Labour MP Darren Jones has described John Bercow as “a champion of parliamentary sovereignty” after the Commons Speaker announced he was to stand down as an MP at the next general election.

Mr Jones tweeted: “John Bercow has been a champion of parliamentary sovereignty and a champion for backbenchers like me being able to hold the executive to account. He’ll be missed by many of us in the @HouseofCommons. The next Speaker has big shoes to fill.”

Originally Mr Bercow said he would stand down last summer but then refused in order to navigate Parliament through the Brexit crisis.

His wife Sally Bercow was spotted sitting in the public gallery just moments before he revealed his plans to resign, which prompted people to speculate that Mr Bercow was going to announce the news.

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