An umpire is meant to be seen and seldom heard. Any requirement for intervention is done quickly, fairly and according to the rules. So it was no surprise that a Statement by the Speaker took an hour! As my friend and colleague Jacob Rees-Mogg noted later in the day at the Despatch Box, both he and the Speaker liked the sound of their own voices. There was genuine anger as the Speaker turned down the PM's effort to have a Meaningful Vote, the first attempt being derailed by Letwin on Saturday. We all knew he would. He's a self-proclaimed Remainer, so why would he allow a vote that would see us taking the first step to leave the EU? Many colleagues immediately made Points of Order, which unfortunately gave Mr Bercow more time to pontificate about how fair-minded he was. I'm not sure any objective observer would agree with that. So, instead of a continuation of the Queen's Speech, we had two UQs and three Statements. The first Statement was made by Leader of the House, Jacob Rees-Mogg. He told the House that the Withdrawal Bill would now be pushed through on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We'd be sitting late if necessary and he called on all MPs to back it. Inevitably, Remainers immediately began whinging about the lack of time. That's rich when the pernicious Surrender Bill was pushed through in a day! I sat in on the next Statement by Michael Gove on preparations for our departure from the EU on 31 October. He is quite brilliant at the Despatch Box and soon had several Opposition MPs visibly furious with his quick-fire replies to their questions. I waited until I was called, when I offered my sympathy and support to him and other colleagues who'd been surrounded by thuggish Remainers on Saturday. I also attended a short piece of delegated legislation in one of the committee rooms. We'd dropped to a one-line whip by late afternoon, so just after 1900 I headed home for supper.