United Kingdom opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn used his first Prime Minister’s Question Time in the House of Commons to make the weekly session less confrontational.
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Wearing a tie, and flanked by his deputy leader Tom Watson and newly appoiinted business secretary Angela Eagle, he said: “Many told me Prime Minister’s Questions was too theatrical and Parliament was out of touch and they wanted things done differently”.
There was no fisticuffs, no handbags at dawn, no jibes.
And for leaders it is a moment when, traditionally, they have to show they are in command of their party.
Asked whether he should have agreed to sing the anthem despite being a republican, she said: “I think it would have been appropriate and right and respectful of people’s feelings to have done so”.
As well as scrutiny of Mr Corbyn’s performance, Mr Cameron will also be watched closely to see how he responds to his new political adversary.
“Labour’s leader turned up dishevelled at the Battle of Britain service and stood in mute silence as everyone sang “God Save the Queen””, said the Sun’s editorial.
Mr Corbyn told Labour MPs on Monday night that he could not offer David Cameron a blank cheque in his renegotiations with Brussels. “Certainly when I go to the annual Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in Bristol I would sing the national anthem”.
Paying tribute to former Conservative MPs Airey Neave and Ian Gow, who were murdered by Republican terrorists, Mr Cameron said: “I have a simple view, which is the terrorism we faced was wrong, it was unjustifiable, the death and the killing was wrong”.
“We must continue to oppose this Tory Government whose policies, such as tax credit cuts and reductions in local government funding, will have a devastating impact on communities like St Helens”.
McDonnell said: “At the moment, it’s trying to get a good Europe that serves all our interests, and I think we can do that”.
On Trident, Mr Corbyn pledged he would not resign even if the party agreed to keep nuclear weapons in an ongoing policy review.
The Bolton South East MP suggested that Mr Corbyn’s performance was an improvement on his predecessors.
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“If he is one day going to be Prime Minister, then he is going to have the important duty of representing our country and that means singing the national anthem, whatever his personal beliefs might be”.
