Guess what? Neither would I if I had been there! My reason would be that singing "God save our Gracious Queen..." when I am neither a monarchist nor a Christian would be hypocritical. But as he is the Leader of the Labour Party, and thus the Official Opposition, he is expected to compromise his principles and lie by singing about something with which he fundamentally disagrees.
Why should that be? It is such a rare thing to find a politician who has principles and who sticks to them regardless, that the media, and sadly some of the public, apparently cannot handle it! Have we really been so brainwashed that we cannot recognise respect and integrity when we see it?
Jeremy Corbyn's behaviour at the service was exemplary, he stood in respectful silence during the anthem, and clearly was not the only person not singing as the photo in the Daily Telegraph shows!
Later he paid tribute to those who died during the Battle of Britain by saying,
"My mum served as an air raid warden and my dad in the Home Guard.It is interesting to compare Jeremy Corbyn's stance at the service to that of the Prime Minister and the Secretary of Defence, as reported by an eye-witness,
Like that whole generation, they showed tremendous courage and determination to defeat fascism.
"The heroism of the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain is something to which we all owe an enormous debt of gratitude.
"The loss of life - both civilian and military - should be commemorated so that we both honour their lives and do all that we can to ensure future generations are spared the horrors of war."
"I would like to mention that during the service at St Paul's today, Jeremy Corbyn stood in dignified silence during the National Anthem, unlike the Secretary of Defence who was busy looking round and trying to catch the cameras. Thank you Jeremy for coming and paying your respects and not show boating and glad handing as Mr Cameron did. A man standing in dignified silence shows greater respect for the fallen than a noisy peacock and the PM and Defence secretary were not dignified."The furore brings to mind an earlier occasion when the media reported inappropriate behaviour at a serious event. Do you remember the service for Nelson Mandela, at which David Cameron, Barack Obama (US President) and Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Denmark PM) were caught enjoying a selfie? I do!
Meanwhile, whilst everyone was being distracted by the media hype about the National Anthem, the Tory govt. voted in favour of swingeing cuts to tax credits that will cause untold hardship to those who earn the least. Perhaps the media should focus on this instead?!
