Lindsay Hoyle's dressing down of Caroline Lucas sparks calls to 'bring back John Bercow'

Lindsay Hoyle's dressing down of Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has sparked calls to "bring back John Bercow".

Bercow served as the Commons speaker from June 22, 2009, until November 4, 2019.

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas asked Prime Minister Boris Johnson why he is turning a “blind eye” to allegations of Russian disruption into UK elections.

The MP for Brighton Pavilion told the Commons: “Yesterday, when I asked the Prime Minister about Russian meddling in UK elections, he looked very shifty before claiming he wasn’t aware of that.

“Yet, when he was Foreign Secretary in 2017, in a joint press conference with the Russian foreign minister, when Lavrov claimed there was no evidence Russia had interfered in UK elections in any way, the now Prime Minister corrected him by saying there was no evidence of successful interference.

"So can the Prime Minister tell us what evidence he has seen of unsuccessful interference?

“Has he actually read the Russia report, which is very clear that there was credible evidence of interference and given that as his Defence Secretary said earlier this week, information is as powerful as any attack, can he explain why he is turning a blind eye to allegations of Russian disruption…”

Towards the end of her speech however, the Speaker asked: "I hope you’re coming to the end of the question."

She sat down, before standing again and responding: "Speaker I could be a lot faster if I wasn’t being barracked by the other side."

The Prime Minister replied: “I repeat what I told her ages ago if I think I have got it right, I have seen absolutely no evidence of successful Russian interference in any electoral event.”

Members of the public were quick to call out Hoyle for his remarks, with one Twitter user posting: "Bring back Bercow, who praised the wonderful Caroline Lucas as the epitome of what a UK MP should be."

Another jibed: "Lyndsay Hoyle has just been seriously disrespectful to Caroline Lucas.

"She was being jeered and barracked by the Tories and he did nothing to stop them.

"He then told her to hurry up with the question! I thought her question deserved to be heard. He is out of his depth as speaker."

A third suggested: "He needs to do his job properly, needs some lessons from Bercow ! Cannot believe he even criticised Lucas!"