Socialist Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn holds his own at first Commons appearance

Corbyn, who voted “no” to Britain’s membership of the forerunner to the European Union in a 1975 referendum, has been ambiguous about his views, saying he wants to see what reforms Prime Minister David Cameron is able to achieve.

“They call us deficit deniers”.

“I want PMQs to be done in a rather different way – a bit less theatre and a bit more facts”, he said.

Although a veteran of the House of Commons, Corbyn has only experienced the raucous weekly ritual – described by critical MPs as being “worse than the schoolyard” – from the sanctuary of the backbenches.

The newly-elected leader came under fire, including from within his shadow cabinet, over his decision not to sing God Save The Queen at a Battle of Britain commemoration service.

She said: “I will be leading the development of Labour’s education policy”.

Speaking during Wales questions, parliamentary under secretary of state for Wales Alun Cairns said the Rugby World Cup “gives us a great opportunity to sing the Welsh national anthem and the UK national anthem together”.

It’s understood Conservative MPs were asked to refrain from heckling Mr Corbyn, and David Cameron referred to the Labour party during his answers.

Finally, I and the Portsmouth Labour Group will continue to do what is right both for local residents in the wards we represent and the people of Portsmouth in general. Almost half a million members and supporters took part in the election.

On the Trident nuclear deterrent, Mr Corbyn insisted he would not let the policy differences tear Labour apart.

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”.

A one-time rank outsider to win the party leadership contest, more than 250,000 people turned out to vote the old school left-winger onto the front benches.

Mr Corbyn, who had faced criticism for failing to promote women to any of the senior portfolios, said that the majority of posts in his shadow cabinet had been been filled by females.

In this interview, he also addressed a number of other issues, including his opposition to Trident and a bombing campaign in Syria, which he said may well not lead to a solution to the civil war engulfing the country.

“That’s why it would be a huge mistake for the Labour Party to think it should be pitching to the left”.