Diane Abbott to vow to be a ‘true and faithful Servant’ to Queen… after saying she wanted to ‘dismantle’ the monarchy
Shadow Home Secretary will join Privy Council where members kneel on a footstool and kiss the monarch’s hand
DIANE Abbott will be sworn in as one of the Queen’s advisers - after saying she wanted to “dismantle” the monarchy.
The shadow Home Secretary will join the Privy Council where members are expected to kneel on a footstool and kiss the monarch’s hand during a ceremony.
Abbott will also have to vow to be a “true and faithful Servant” to the monarch as part of the oath after being approved to join.
Membership of the elite group means participants swear not to reveal any secret briefings.
Twenty years ago, Abbott’s views on the monarchy were laid down in a pamphlet and published in The Sunday Times.
She said: “We are not interested in reforming the police, armed services, judiciary and monarchy. We are about dismantling them and replacing them with our own machinery of class rule.”
It comes after The Sun on Sunday last week revealed Abbott wanted MI5 and the security services abolished in a 1989 when she signed up to an Early Day Motion.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry will also become a Privy Councillor.
Thornberry resigned from the shadow Cabinet in 2014 after being accused of snobbery for tweeting a picture of a home in Rochester, Kent, covered by three St George’s Cross flags.
She tweeted the snap with the caption “Image from #Rochester”.
Both appointments have been approved with the swearing in ceremony expected in the New Year.
It comes after Labour leader and lifelong republican Jeremy Corbyn didn’t kneel before the Queen during his ceremony in November last year.
The Privy Council has around 500 members with monthly meetings normally only involve the Queen, the Leader of the Commons, around three Ministers and those being sworn in.