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Labour Party conference: Prescott calls for Privy Council to be scrapped

FORMER deputy prime minister John Prescott called yesterday for the Privy Council to be scrapped.

Lord Prescott said the historic body that formally advises the monarch was undemocratic and should be abolished.

His comments came amid continued criticism of new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for agreeing to become a privy councillor despite being an ardent republican.

Opponents have said that it was hypocritical for Mr Corbyn to agree when becoming a member requires swearing an oath of allegiance to the Queen and kissing her hand.

Lord Prescott, resigned from the council in 2013, said the ceremony did not involve kneeling before the monarch, as some reports have suggested.

“Every person’s on about kneeling. You don’t do that. You hop. Get into hopping. You hop from one chair to another and brush your lips lightly across her hand,” he told BBC1’s Sunday Politics.

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