The trouble with John Bercow

I see Mr Speaker's expense claims are in the news. Which gives me an excuse for offering this observation.

The black gown he favours makes John Bercow look like an old-fashioned schoolmaster.

And in character he resembles the sort of teacher you think is great when you are 17. But if you meet him a few years on, you are rather disappointed in him.

The permanent undergraduate act does not suit the Speaker's Chair. It's time for John Bercow to grow up.

Thanks to Disgruntled Radical, who once observed to me that the teachers you liked most at school are often a disappointment if you meet them in later life.