John Bercow's bombshell decision on Brexit prompted fury and disgust among his many enemies, with one branding him 'Humpty Dumpty'.

He clashed yet again with his long-term parliamentary adversary Andrea Leadsom after blocking the Government's plans for a third meaningful vote this week.

And he faced scorn from senior figures including Prisons Minister Rory Stewart and Solicitor General Robert Buckland.

Mr Stewart who had already expressed his disagreement with Mr Bercow, appeared to compare the Speaker to the egg-based nursery rhyme character.

He tweeted: 'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean.'

This is thought to be a reference to Mr Bercow citing 'precedent' as a reason for blocking the meaningful vote plan today.

In January he had infuriated Brexiteers by allowing an amendment by hardcore Remainer Dominic Grieve, defending the decision by saying: 'If we were guided only by precedent, manifestly nothing in our procedures would ever change.'

Prisons Minister tweeted a Humpty Dumpty reference believed to be aimed at the speaker following his ruling on Monday afternoon

Mr Stewart also tweeted his opposition to what Mr Bercow had laid out in the Commons in a more traditional form

The Speaker has had an acrimonious relationship with Commons' Leader Mrs Leadsom since she took up the post over issues including bullying of parliamentary staff.

He admonished her today for fiddling with her mobile phone during points of order, prompting her to take revenge by questioning his impartiality and ability to find a solution to the mess his ruling on a third meaningful vote had made.

Mr Bercow had replied to a request from Kingston MP Sir Ed Davey for a 'Speaker's Conference' to help solve the constitutional pinch-point by saying the last time he offered to hold one there had been little interest from her predecessor, David Lidington.

He then suggested that as Mrs Leadsom was 'a notable reformer in other respects' she might 'feel she could have a key role in initiating such an important constitutional development' adding: 'If she did i would be perfectly willing to play ball with it - it is nothing she and I have discussed, but you never know.'

Andrea Leadsom questioned Speaker John Bercow's ability to lead efforts to find a solution to the constitutional impasse he created

Mr Bercow replied with a thinly veiled jibe at Mrs Leadsom's length of time as an MP compared with his own

She promptly got to her feet and said: 'I just want to be very clear I am indeed a reforming Leader of the House of Commons and for me, treating colleagues with courtesy and respect is at the forefront of that reform.

'Any Speaker's Council would have to have that at its heart and I simply would not be confident that would be the case.'

As MPs laughed: 'Well so be it. I treat the House with respect, I have treated its members with respect, I chaired a previous speaker's conference and there was no criticism of the way I did so.

'One reason why the Leader of the House might not be well versed in that particular Speaker's Conference and in a position to make a judgement about my chairmanship of it is very simply that it took place before the right honourable lady entered the House of Commons (in 2010).'

Mr Buckland said the ruling by Speaker John Bercow would have 'huge reverberations' for the Brexit process.

'We are in a major constitutional crisis here,' he told BBC News.

'There are ways around this - a prorogation of Parliament and a new session. We are talking about hours to March 29. Frankly we could have done without this.

'Now we have this ruling to deal with, it is clearly going to require a lot of very fast but very deep thought in the hours ahead.