Jeremy Corbyn faced with anthem jibe in Welsh Questions

The pacifist and republican also came under fire after he declined to sing the national anthem at a service for veterans of World War II in London on Tuesday.

But minutes later a Labour spokesman insisted Mr Corbyn had “meant to say” he would sing.

Of Mr Corbyn’s new team of 31 frontbenchers, every single one voted in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill that passed through Parliament in 2013.

Jeremy Corbyn has accused critics of “living in the 18th Century” amid jibes that he has overlooked women for Labour’s biggest jobs.

Starting out as a rank outsider who struggled to get on the Labour leadership contest ballot paper, Corbyn rode a wave of grassroots enthusiasm to emerge as the shock victor , but his rise has divided Labour. He does pose a danger to them – because they don’t understand how he won when the full weight of the political and media establishment was against him.

If you were expecting an old-school ding-dong at the first Prime Minister’s Questions between Conservative David Cameron and the new leader of the Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, you will have been bitterly disappointed.

Mr Bryant cited policy differences with Mr Corbyn as the reason behind his decision to refuse the Defence brief.

In the age of rolling 24-hour news, PMQs which were formalised in the late 19th century, have become more combative, with witty put downs drowning out questions about government policy or direction.

One of the saddest reality shows on the box, this artificial, anachronistic and often pitiful and pathetic portrayal of Parliament has always been hard to stomach and even harder to respect. I don’t see a problem about this. “As he said in the words issued this morning, the heroism of the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain is something to which we all owe an enormous debt of gratitude”.

“I want things to be rather different because I think the public have had enough of yah-boo sucks theatrical politics and that’s what I am going to try and bring to PMQs today”, he told Sky News before the session began. “2,500 people emailed me about the housing crisis in this country”.

It represents a major challenge for Corbyn, who was elected on Saturday with strong backing from his party’s members but has less support among Labour members of parliament, some of whom view him as a voter-repellent extremist. The “Sun” and “Daily Telegraph” papers ran headlines saying “Corbyn snubs the Queen”, but the leader said he was maintaining a respectful silence.