JEREMY Corbyn will today seek to put behind him the row over his “snub” to the Queen with a visit to Scotland to help raise money for the Scottish Labour Party.
Ahead of a fund-raising gala dinner in Glasgow, the Labour leader will visit a housing association in the city, where he will insist good business should respect its workers and have social responsibility at its heart.
Earlier, Mr Corbyn will be joined by members of Social Bite, a social enterprise, and is expected to hail it as an “example of a business with a conscience; giving hope and opportunities to homeless people in Glasgow; it is the spirit of businesses like Social Bite that I want to see spread all across this country”.
Following the controversy over his failure to sing the national anthem, questions were raised about whether or not, when the time came he would kneel before the Queen and kiss her hand as the Privy Council ceremony dictates.
However, it emerged the Labour leader, an ardent republican, had given his apologies that he would not be attending the monthly meeting due to “prior engagements”.
His office declined to give details, saying they were “private” but pointed out it was “far from unusual to miss the first meeting due to other commitments" as David Cameron had done.
Allies of Mr Corbyn later suggested the 66-year-old was having “some down-time” after a hectic start to his leadership.
But this led critics to claim he had “snubbed” Her Majesty; an allegation denied by his office, which pointed out how the Labour leader fully intended to become a member of the Privy Council, a body 600-strong and made up of senior figures from politics, business and the arts
In fact, despite his absence the Labour leader did receive the accompanying title of Right Honourable. It has been suggested his office has been looking at using an obscure process called an “Order in Council” to enable him to skip the ceremony.
Tory MP Sir Alan Duncan, himself a privy councillor, noted: "The Queen has always put herself above politics but Jeremy Corbyn seems to want to put his politics above the Queen.”
One person who did attend the Privy Council meeting was the SNP’s Angus Robertson, who becomes a privy counsellor by dint of his being on the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee, which involves handling classified information.
Meantime, it was confirmed Mr Corbyn would, along with other senior politicians, attend a State Banquet at Buckingham Palace later this month in honour of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
It is a white tie and tails event and guests are traditionally received by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, shaking their hands and exchanging a few pleasantries.
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