John Bercow has taken aim at Brexiteers who claim he has been bias as Speaker, saying it’s “bad form” to blame the referee.
Mr Bercow said some of the abuse directed at parliamentarians in recent months has been “"low grade and vulgar to the extreme".
Discussing his time as Speaker, he addressed the row over his bias in favour of the Remain camp.
He told CNN: “If you are losing the match, it's quite bad form to blame the referee."
Mr Bercow's rulings in the Commons had earned him the title of "The Brexit Destroyer" in some parts of the press, along with a suggestion that he had potentially triggered a constitutional crisis.
Mr Bercow continued: "I wouldn't say I'm a Remainer enabler.
“I would say that I'm an enabler of all colleagues across the House who want to express their different points of view."
The departing Speaker added: "I thought the Brexiteers were in favour of taking back control of Parliament being in the driving seat?
“Well, they can't have it both ways
Mr Bercow dismissed what he called "downmarket attacks on Parliament" along with claims of bias from hardline Brexiteer MPs.
He described the bitter debates over Brexit as among the worse he has seen in his 22 years as an MP for Buckingham.
"They [the attacks] are unworthy, they don't amount to a row of beans and I'm not intimidated by them," he added.
Mr Bercow has said he will stand down as Speaker on October 31, the day the UK is scheduled to leave the EU.
