The Staggers

The New Statesman’s rolling politics blog

Sally Bercow departs from Twitter after second gaffe

The Speaker's wife appears to have deleted her account.

By Caroline Crampton Published 20 November 2012 11:05

Sally Bercow. Photograph: Getty Images

Sally Bercow seems to have deleted her account and quit Twitter, after a second row erupted last night over a legally contentious tweet. She had been an avid Twitter user, amassing almost 60,000 followers and tweeting regularly.

On Sunday, she reportedly breached a court order by naming a schoolgirl who allegedly ran away with her maths teacher. There is a section 39 order under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 in place banning identification of the girl.

Lord McAlpine has already threatened to sue her for naming him on Twitter during speculation resulting from the Newsnight, for which she has apologised, although she has maintained subsequently that her tweet was foolish rather than libellous.

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7 comments

Wed, 2012-11-21 07:36 — Posh Tosh (not verified)

She ought delete her husband for covering-up landlords expenses and fraud within the House of Conmens.

Wed, 2012-11-21 16:05 — Tariq O'Neil (not verified)

Is she going to decamp from him too - it is said that he's a bit camp ? Tariq

Tue, 2012-11-20 16:21 — Lucidus (not verified)

Just picking an example at random, the NS has an article entitled "This week's PR fail: the Department of Education and ***** ********"

This article discusses anonymity for the teacher, rather than the pupil.

Given her name was rightly broadcast far and wide when she was missing, it seems rather pointless to try to shut the stable door now.

Tue, 2012-11-20 13:22 — The Red Bladder

Who could ever have visualised the words 'Sally Bercow' and 'foolish' appearing together?

Tue, 2012-11-20 13:59 — Stuart Eels (not verified)

I know, it's mad to believe her to be folish, thick as two short planks, away with the fairies or in anyway a silly little Sally.

Tue, 2012-11-20 12:45 — studiostu (not verified)

How can an individual find out if a section 39 order is in place, it seems that to know that one would need to be told the child's name, which defeats the object.

Tue, 2012-11-20 11:25 — Percival (not verified)

As idiotic as Sally is (I've always disliked her), how can she possibly get into trouble for giving the name of the schoolgirl when everyone in the country already knows who it is? It was all over the newspapers for a month or two, and her name and photos can be found online. If she's prosecuted for this, it will be like a Carry On movie.