What's going on with Brexit?
The debate over how and when Britain will divorce itself from the European Union has gone on for over three years and there is no end in sight. And nowhere has the acrimony been more intense than in Parliament, where Speaker John Bercow's job has been to maintain decorum in the chamber, usually by bellowing the word "order." Jon Wertheim takes a look at Brexit, the disorder in Parliament its caused and the man who has become a symbol of the political battle on the next edition of 60 Minutes, Sunday, November 3 at 7:30 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT on CBS.
After a decade as Speaker Bercow is retiring from his job today. Wertheim spoke to him last week about the thankless job that often required him to cut people off in mid-shout. Would a gavel to bang have helped him? "I'm not sure it would and it's very un-British to have a gavel in the chamber. Although there is a general requirement of brevity, most people, doubtless myself included, think we are being briefer than we are," Bercow tells Wertheim. Then, laughing, Bercow says, "And most people are in favor of brevity, as long as it's someone else's."
And what of the bickering, screaming politicians he had to wrangle who often directed their most cruel comments at him? "You should always view with some suspicion and reserve people who, when they're losing or think that they're getting a rough deal, moan about the referee," he says. "These moaning Minnie's ought to cease moaning. But do they bother me? Do I lose sleep?...No, I couldn't give a flying flamingo about their protests," he spits out with a laugh.
