What makes a bully? I know that standards now are very different to when I started work

John Bercow is one to have faced recent accusations, while Donald Trump’s instances of bullying are well known. This behaviour is not going to disappear, writes Janet Street-Porter

John Bercow has denied allegations of bullying made against him (PA)

Is John Bercow a bully? And what constitutes a bully in modern Britain, a place where – on social media at least – politeness and courtesy seem to be going out of fashion? To his detractors, the former speaker’s past behaviour towards colleagues renders him unfit to be elevated to the House of Lords. (Mind you, the place is full of people with “colourful pasts” – many of whom are only there because they coughed up cash for political parties.)

The Lords contains former bosses who were probably bullies as they fought to maximise profits, unqualified toffs with the right blood lines, and people already rewarded for doing their job working for the civil service and the royals. The Bishops get rewarded for failure – seats in the Lords – even though their church is losing members every week.

Whatever the qualifications required for the perks of a peerage, the word “bully” is super-sensitive. As the rate of domestic violence soars, aggressive behaviour is affecting thousands of men and women out of sight. The tone of everyday life seems increasingly to be at the level of a shout.