Today Jeremy Corbyn has cancelled his attendance at what would have been his first meeting of the Queen’s Privy Council due to ‘prior commitments’. Of course naysayers have been quick to jump on this, with Alan Duncan claiming that Corbyn snubbing his first chance to be sworn in suggests that he is not a serious political figure.
As for the Corbynistas praising their leader for sticking to his republican values by giving Her Majesty a miss, they would do well to remember that another politican has a far more impressive track record when it comes to snubbing the Queen. During Nick Clegg’s time as Deputy Prime Minister, he managed to earn himself a reputation for repeatedly snubbing Her Majesty.
When the Telegraph reported in 2013 that he had missed a fourth meeting of the Privy Council — sending along Andrew Lansley to represent him — one of his aides launched a furious defence of the then Liberal Democrat leader:
‘I can’t believe we are having this f—— conversation again.
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