Bercow branded 'hypocrite' for opposing Donald Trump address in Westminster Hall
Video report by ITV News Political Correspondent Carl Dinnen
John Bercow is facing calls to consider his position after saying US President Donald Trump should not be allowed to address Parliament.
MPs have criticised the Speaker of the Commons after he said he was "strongly opposed" to offering President Trump the chance to address MPs and Lords at Westminster Hall.
Bercow added that he wanted to send a message of defiance against "racism and sexism" and his feelings had grown even stronger since Mr Trump launched his so-called migrant ban after taking office.
Tory backbencher Nadhim Zahawi said Bercow should "think about" his position and suggested he was a hypocrite.
Zahawi said the Speaker had invited Chinese President Xi Jinping despite MPs being unhappy about his policy on Tibet, and the Emir of Kuwait, which bans British dual nationals of Israeli origin, to speak in parliament.
The Iraqi-born MP said however, that he opposed Trumps' travel ban and wanted the American president to come to parliament so he could "eyeball him" and make his feelings clear.
He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "I think it is, in my book, unwise and he opens himself up to the accusation of hypocrisy, that's my point.
"I am against the travel ban, especially for banning refugees from Syria who are desperate, who have been vetted - but it's unwise to ban the legitimately elected president of the United States of America, our closest ally when we're trying to urge them not to shoot from the hip, not to ban people, to exercise restraint, look at evidence.
"Yet we are now, or at least the Speaker of Parliament, who has a big, big responsibility, is now sort of talking the language of bans."
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage said the Speaker had "insulted" Mr Trump.
He said: "I think the speaker of the House of Commons should be neutral. To have expressed political opinions in the way he did today devalues his great office and is insulting to President Trump."
Chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Crispin Blunt also criticised the Speaker.
He said: "He has no idea whether he will be speaking for a majority of the House of Commons, and this is why Speakers do not express their opinion.
"That's the entire point, otherwise they can't remain neutral and above the political fray."
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said Trump was "very welcome" in the UK but decisions about Parliament were for the Speaker and Lord Speaker Lord Fowler.
Asked if Bercow had overstepped the mark, he told BBC Breakfast: "Anyone who knows the Speaker knows that he's perfectly capable of speaking his own mind."
Bercow has the power to block any invitation being issued to the US President.
He was cheered as he said that offering an audience to a foreign leader was not an "automatic right but an "earned honour".
The Speaker also made it clear that he would not be willing to help extend an invitation to Mr Trump to speak at Parliament's Royal Gallery, which had been mooted as a potential alternative venue.
He said the US leader's planned state visit want "way beyond the pay grade of a Speaker".
However, he added: "As far as this place is concerned I feel very strongly that our opposition to racism and sexism and our support for equality before the law and an independent judiciary are hugely important considerations in the House of Commons."
At least one MP could be heard shouting "hear hear" after Mr Bercow's announcement.
It was hailed by the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farrow, who added: "Trump should be under no illusion. We are snubbing him."
As Parliament's speaker Mr Bercow would normally play a key role to extending an invitation to Mr Trump to speak together with his counterpart in the House of Lords.
It later emerged that he had not consulted the current Lord Speaker, Lord Fowler, who is set to make his own announcement tomorrow.
Mr Bercow's intervention comes following growing concern among many MPs over the prospect of hosting the divisive and controversial new US leader during his planned state visit to the UK.
Following his comments, a Downing Street spokesman said: "We look forward to welcoming the president to the UK later this year. The dates and arrangements for the state visit will be worked out in due course."
Meanwhile, Mr Trump was also facing fresh court challenges over his now overturned ban on refugees and travellers from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen under "extreme vetting" border controls.
Lawyers for the US states of Washington and Minnesota have told a court appeal that restoring the measures would "unleash chaos again".
The bar was temporarily lifted by a judge but it remains in the courts as Mr Trump's administration attempts to have it reinstated.
Today the US leader insisted that the public was on his side, writing in a tweet: "Sorry, people want border security and extreme vetting."