Jeremy Corbyn missed meeting with Queen to go on Highlands walking holiday
Mr Corbyn enjoyed a soft drink and a dinner of fish and chips at a bar and restaurant in Fort William
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Your support makes all the difference.Jeremy Corbyn missed an induction into the Privy Council by the Queen to go on a walking holiday in the Scottish Highlands, it has been revealed.
The Labour leader was accused of “snubbing” the monarch this week after he passed up the chance to kneel before the Queen and swear his oath of allegiance to her.
Mr Corbyn was instead enjoying a soft drink and a dinner of fish and chips at a bar and restaurant in Fort William, according to the Sunday Times.
The revelation ends speculation as to Mr Corbyn’s whereabouts on Thursday following comments from aides he had “long standing private engagements” and needed some “relaxation time”.
Mr Corbyn is reported to have popped into the Highland pub accompanied by a “dark-haired woman”, believed to be his Mexican wife, Laura Alvarez.
He also posed for a picture outside the town's Tavern restaurant with its owner John MacLennan.
Mr MacLennan posted the image on Facebook with the caption "'Can I have my steak well done, please?' No problem Jeremy, we will get the chef to nuke it for you!", referencing Mr Corbyn's opposition to renewing Trident.
"He was very pleasant, an absolutely pleasant man - not my politics, I'm completely the opposite spectrum, you know - but very pleasant, nice guy," Mr MacLennan said.
Labour backbencher Simon Danczuk told the Sunday Times: "Jeremy has led the party off into the wilderness and then taken a hike in the Highlands.
"It is not so much that he has missed the meeting with the Queen, but that he's let this story run and run, which means we haven't had a chance to get our message out there."
The Privy Council's once-a-month meetings are presided over by the Queen, but its role as an administrative link between the monarch and parliament is institutional rather than politically critical.
Of the 600 individuals who constitute the Privy Council, only a handful of Cabinet or senior ministers attend formal meetings. David Cameron is reported to have missed three formal councils before being sworn in.
The Independent has contacted the Tavern Restaurant.
Additional reporting by Press Association
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