John Bercow has received more than £70,000 worth of freebies since he became Speaker of the House of Commons, a Telegraph investigation has found.
Mr Bercow, who earns £153,145 a year and has a grace-and-favour home in Westminster, received £18,949.80 in 2016-17 alone, and has racked up £16,948.83 in 2017-18 and a further £9,296 so far this financial year, according to Parliament’s Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
The majority of the gifts were sports tickets, mainly to tennis and football matches, including watching his beloved Arsenal.
Mr Bercow has previously faced criticism over an attempt to hire an ‘unqualified’ Australian to the £200,000-a-year post of Commons clerk, his lavish spending on refurbishing the Speaker’s official residence and his jet-setting at taxpayers’ expense.
Mr Bercow’s office was approached for comment last night.
