Speaker John Bercow outlines plan to stay in post beyond the summer, dashing Brexiteer hopes

John Bercow has said he expects to continue in the role of Commons speaker beyond the summer, despite expectations he would step down in the near future.

Speaking after an event in Washington, he said it was not “sensible to vacate the chair” during a time of parliamentary upheaval. His comments to the Guardian are likely to have ruffled the feathers of some Eurosceptic MPs who have expressed concerns he wishes to stand in the way of a no-deal Brexit.

Bercow was previously believed to be preparing to step down as speaker this summer after a decade in the job, but his comments suggest he has changed his mind after Brexit was delayed from the end of March to October.

Giving a speech beforehand at a Brookings Institute event, he said the Commons is likely to block attempts to leave the EU without a deal.

“I’ve never said anything about going in July of this year. Secondly, I do feel that now is a time in which momentous events are taking place and there are great issues to be resolved and in those circumstances, it doesn’t seem to me sensible to vacate the chair.”

He said: “The idea the House won’t have its say is for the birds.”

Boris Johnson has already said Britain will leave on at the end of October “deal or no deal”. Several rivals have also adopted this viewpoint, including former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab.

“The idea that parliament is going to be evacuated from the centre stage of debate on Brexit is unimaginable,” Bercow said.

He also said inviting Chinese President Xi Jingping to address Parliament on his visit to the UK in 2015 was an error. “You make mistakes. Looking back, do I think there’s a powerful argument that says perhaps the Chinese President should not have been invited? Was it necessarily the right decision? No," he said.

“I was at an earlier stage in my speakership, maybe I was wrong on those matters.”

Bercow has already made clear he will not allow US President Donald Trump to make a similar address on his state visit to the UK next week.