Bercow: Sally's 'Brother' Bother

John Bercow has opened his heart to political journalists about what he thinks about wife Sally and "Celebrity Big Brother".
Is he bothered about his wife's embarrassing behaviour at times? Well, yes. But is he going to tell her to stop doing as she pleases? Absolutely not.
With Sally sitting opposite me and just a few feet away from him, the Speaker addressed a Parliamentary Press Gallery lunch on his modernisation crusade in Parliament.
After a speech in which he defended his reforms, blasted sloppy security in Parliament and demanded more sanctions for select committees against witnesses who mislead, Bercow was asked if he had banned Sally from appearing on reality TV shows.
He immediately turned on his interrogator, the tenacious Christopher Hope of The Daily Telegraph, in mock outrage and said: "What century are you living in? What world are you living in?"
He admitted: "We have our views about these things like every other couple. Such conversations have taken place."
He didn't agree with everything Sally had done, he said, but they were independent of each other and she was not a "chattel or appendage" or "buttoned on to the office holder".
"She is perfectly free to do her own thing." he said.
At which point, Sally piped up: "Thanks, honey!"
On the day of James Murdoch's big box office appearance at the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, Bercow also condemned the security lapse which allowed the assault on James's father, Rupert Murdoch, in July.
Commons security had been "messy, complex and amateurish on many occasions in the past", he said in response to a question from The Guardian's veteran parliamentary scribbler, Michael White.
Equally timely - minutes after the James Murdoch hearing - was Bercow's call in his speech for a crackdown on witnesses who give misleading evidence at select committees.
After I asked him to be more specific, he suggested holding them in contempt, referring them to the Standards and Privileges Commitee or even hauling them before the Bar of the House, like journalist John Junor back in 1957.
Not surprisingly, Bercow told us he would continue to "bang on" about the noise levels at Prime Minister's Questions, claiming that high decibel levels did not improve scrutiny.
And perhaps also not surprisingly, answering a question from Tim Shipman of the Daily Mail he seemed reluctant to give up his £35,000-a-year pension, saying that he would if the law was changed.
John Bercow is verbose, certainly, using 100 words where 10 will do.
But on everything from modernising the House to Sally in the House he was refreshingly candid and, appropriately at a Press Gallery lunch, sang for his supper.
Thank you, honey!