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John Bercow may have been the worst Speaker of the House of Commons in modern times, but he is a qualified tennis coach. He might have gained a certain notoriety for bullying his staff, but

he is an Arsenal supporter. His vanity, pomposity and partiality might have earned widespread ridicule, but he received four honorary degrees. _Ergo_, he should have been rewarded with a

peerage when he finally relinquished the Speaker’s chair, because — because that is how the British Establishment is meant to work. Isn’t it? Not content with disgracing his ancient office

by exceeding his authority on numerous occasions in order to thwart the elected Government, Bercow seems to have stooped even lower by lobbying to obtain the peerage to which he considered

himself entitled. After he stepped down in 2019, Bercow was turned down by Number Ten, so he turned to Jeremy Corbyn. The former Speaker’s shameless courting of the then Leader of the

Opposition has now come to light. It makes cringeworthy reading: “You will understand that I am hugely appreciative of Jeremy’s willingness to nominate me on behalf of the Opposition.” Had

he been cultivating Corbyn all the time he was supposed to be preserving the impartiality of his office? Last weekend he denied ever having angled for an Opposition peerage: “There has been

no barter, no trade, no deal whatsoever.” But he even wrote his own self-aggrandising reference, unctuously informing Corbyn’s office: “I hope this meets the needs of the case.” Not quite.

It was all in vain: Bercow was rejected by parliamentary scrutineers. The longed-for peerage has proved elusive to this day. Even after the former Tory MP for Buckingham announced his

conversion to the Labour Party last weekend, Sir Keir Starmer let it be known that he was unpersuaded of the case for Bercow’s elevation. For him at least, the Westminster gravy train has

ground to a halt. Hence the endless interviews to satisfy a craving for publicity — and for money. The Bercows are clearly determined to join the ranks of minor celebrities. A taste for the

ludicrous can also be lucrative. Bercow’s shameless conduct may be unprecedented in the annals of Parliament, but such attention-seeking is unfortunately by no means unique in public life.

Dominic Cummings has made an exhibition of himself by keeping up a drip-feed of private messages from the Prime Minister and others with whom he worked in Government. His blog, now monetised

on the Substack platform, charges a hefty subscription. Even if he never works again — and who would trust him not to betray their confidence too? — the former Downing Street and Vote Leave

guru can expect to make a small fortune from his indiscretions. Almost half a century ago, the Crossman Diaries scandalised many by shining an unforgiving light on British politics — but

they were published posthumously. Cummings, the self-proclaimed outsider, is cashing in on his insider status, apparently with impunity. Others are bound to follow suit. And what of Harry

and Meghan? They too have turned their roles as insider-outsiders to financial advantage. The more their notoriety grows, the better it is for business. The monarchy is still a global brand

and this couple appears to have no scruples at all in exploiting their parasitical relationship with it. The Duke and Duchess appear even to have used the naming of their daughter as a power

play to put the Queen in her place. When the BBC reported that the Palace had not been consulted about the choice of “Lilibet” — the childhood nickname of Princess Elizabeth, used by her

late husband Philip but by nobody else — the Sussexes insisted that Harry had run it past his grandmother and threatened to sue anyone who suggested otherwise. Harry and Meghan appear to

take their manners from the movies and their morals from the mob. Bad behaviour is nothing new. What marks out the cases of Bercow, Cummings and the Californian branch of the Windsors is

that they are serving themselves in the name of public service. The former Speaker begins the panegyric he wrote in support of his nomination to the Lords thus: “John Bercow has been active

in public life since 1986 when, aged 23, he was elected to Lambeth Borough Council.” Cummings claims to be sacrificing his career for the sake of shaking up the system. Harry and Meghan see

themselves as picking up where his late mother, Diana, left off.  This is a novel understanding of the public service ethos. In fact, it is the inversion of everything that public service

has traditionally implied. There has always been an honourable place for eccentrics in British society. But these  insider-outsiders claim the respect due to self-effacing public servants,

while trashing the institutions to which they owe their fame, treating others monstrously and leaving scorched earth behind them. It will not do.  A MESSAGE FROM THEARTICLE _We are the only

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