Jeremy Corbyn's bow: what really happened

Jeremy Corbyn was accused of refusing to bow at the Remembrance Day service in Whitehall by various sections of the media, though once it was revealed he had, the Labour leader was then accused of not bowing low enough.

But on Twitter and Facebook, supporters of the Islington North MP were also sharing memes from Sunday, showing Corbyn smiling with veterans. So what really happened?

Did Corbyn refuse to bow?

Corbyn, dressed in a black suit and wearing a traditional red poppy, followed the custom of laying a wreath of red poppies after the Queen and the prime minister, shortly after 11am on Sunday, then walked back to join other political leaders.

“Pacifist Corbyn refuses to bow,” the Sun headline ran, accusing the Labour leader of disrespecting the war dead by not stooping like the prime minister.

Sir Gerald Howarth, a former Conservative minister, called Corbyn an embarrassment, and said the moment of remembrance “requires complete commitment”.

But Corbyn did bow, according to video of the event, though it was far more subtle than the prime minister’s.

“We shouldn’t expect any more from a lifelong CND member and a leading light in the odious Stop the War group,” the Sun’s editorial said. “But he appears to need constant reminding that he is no longer a Marxist protester. He is the Labour leader.”

Did Corbyn refuse to bow low enough?

Once it was acknowledged that Corbyn had in fact bowed, the anger turned to whether he had bowed low enough.

The etiquette expert, William Hanson, told the Telegraph his issue was the bow was not deep enough.

Protocol dictates that while his bow did not not necessarily have to be deep, like a theatrical bow and scrape, it should have gone down around 45 degrees from the waist.

He barely did anything. But that said, it is his right not to bow and the people he was there to remember fought for our rights to do, or not to do, anything.

Whilst I do not agree with him, we all have the right to mark the occasion in different ways.

It is his first time in this role at the Cenotaph and he is not cut from the cloth of a statesman.

Charles Moore, also writing in the Telegraph, argued Corbyn’s small bow was no gaffe. “Contrary to some comment, there was nothing wrong with his slight bow as he laid his wreath. He wore unobjectionable clothes, a red poppy and a respectful expression,” the paper’s former editor wrote.

Did Corbyn miss a “slap-up VIP lunch”?

A meme showing Corbyn posing with veterans after the parade was an equally big talking point – that he had missed a VIP lunch with other politicians in order to greet them.

It is unclear exactly what this is referring to, but it may be that Corbyn, along with all the party leaders, was invited to a reception at the Foreign Office, an event held every year for veterans and other dignitaries after the memorial.

There were sandwiches, canapés and drinks, and it was held around lunchtime, but it was not, by all accounts, a sit-down “slap-up” lunch for politicians.

It is understood Corbyn did not attend the reception, but then again, neither did Cameron, who was hosting his own event, another smaller reception for veterans at No 10.

It does seem to be the case, however, that Corbyn stayed for a while to speak to veterans before heading off for his Islington constituency memorial service, shortly after 1pm.

At the ceremony in the Royal Northern Gardens, Corbyn read Futility by the first world war poet Wilfred Owen, and laid another wreath, bowing deeply this time, according to online magazine Little Atoms’ Padraig Reidy.