David Farnor | On 24, Dec 2019

John Bercow will deliver this year’s Alternative Christmas Message on Channel 4.

First airing in 1993, the Channel 4 Christmas message – the alternative to the Queens annual televised message to the nation – has previously featured presenters such as whistle-blower Edward Snowden, children who survived the Grenfell Tower Disaster, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Doreen and Neville Lawrence and Danny Dyer.

This Christmas Day, the former speaker of the House of Commons will deliver a pro-democracy and pro-Parliament message of tolerance and respect from a classroom at his children’s state secondary school.

Having stepped down in October from the bi-partisan role of Speaker and after 10 years of chairing some of the fiercest and most fractious debates in recent political history, Mr Bercow continues to be a champion for the role of Parliament.

He will say that “of late, democracy has come in for a pounding” and call for the nation to “re-establish a civility of discourse”, noting that “an opinion is no more valid because it is expressed more loudly, repeatedly or abusively”.

Mr Bercow is a firm believer that we must better respectfully agree to disagree and feels strongly that “there are people… who cannot entertain the idea that anyone can honourably hold an opinion which differs from their own”.

Hi will also share his concerns over the role social media has come to play in our lives, particularly the impact on young people, commenting that while it can be “amazing” it can often “amplify hatred, racism, misogyny and abuse”.

The Alternative Christmas Message is commissioned by Tamsin Dodgson, Commissioning Editor for Entertainment at Channel 4, and produced by Rumpus Media production.

It will be broadcast on Christmas Day at 2.25pm on Channel 4. Here’s a clip:

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