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John Bercow: "I should like to make a personal statement to the House. At the 2017 GE, I promised my wife and children that it would be my last. If the House votes for a GE tonight, my tenure will end when Parliament is dissolved."
"If it does not, I have concluded that the most democratic thing for me to do would be to stand down at the close of business on 31 October. Least disruptive because that date will fall shortly after the votes on the Queens' Speech."
"The week or so after that could be quite likely and it would be best to have an experienced figure in the chair for that short period."
Very sorry to see him go, but good on him to see the Brexit extension through and/or preside over the battle of the last 10 days before Brexit Day.
And now he's almost crying, and I'm almost crying...
"We degrade this Parliament at our peril."
Clapping isn't normally allowed, but he gets a long standing ovation from the Opposition benches and a decently fair smattering from the Government side as well as he finishes.
Remarkably good off the cuff compliment from Jeremy Corbyn.
Michael Gove: "I should like, for the first time ever, to associate myself whole-heartedly with the remarks of the Leader of the Opposition."
Gracious words from him too.
Gracious words from him too.
So that's bad news overall. But at the very least he will chaperone Parliament all the way up to the Halloween Brexit deadline to make it 100% sure that MPs will get a crack at stopping Boris Johnson's stitch-up attempts.
Here's the full text of his resignation statement, if you missed it and are interested...
theguardian.com/politics/live/…
theguardian.com/politics/live/…
And here's the effect of the Speaker neatly illustrated...
