ITT hits back at Mail’s Bercow rant

The newspaper questions Bercow’s acceptance of the engagement, which she said came with a fee of “about £2,000 and a trip to the West Indies”, and quotes an unnamed Tory MP as accusing her of profiting from her position.

Bercow is wife of Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow, and the Mail highlights that the last two ITT Christmas Cocktail events have been hosted in the speaker’s apartments in the Houses of Parliament.

ITT chairman Steven Freudmann strongly refuted that there was anything inappropriate about Sally Bercow speaking at the conference, which takes place at the Barbados Hilton from June 10-12.

“There is absolutely no connection between our events and Sally Bercow speaking at the conference,” he said. “This is a political article, and it’s well-known that the Mail has had a vendetta against John Bercow since he was elected speaker.

“We’ve often heard about the lack of opportunities that women have at the highest level in our industry, and it will be helpful to hear Sally Bercow give her take on how an independent woman can thrive in the goldfish bowl of Westminster.

“This is not a key session, it’s only 30 minutes and she follows a long line of lighter hearted speakers at our conferences, who have included Ruby Wax and [rugby star] Gareth Davies in the past two years.

Freudmann added that the conference would be addressing all the key issues in travel, with speakers from Tui and Thomas Cook, and 16 sessions - up from 12 in 2011 - on topics including runway capacity in the South East

Freudmann added that the conference would be addressing all the key issues in travel, with speakers from Tui and Thomas Cook, and 16 sessions - up from 12 in 2011 - on topics including runway capacity in the South East

By Daniel Peace, TTG. For more stories, click here.

Published: Tuesday, May 08, 2012