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Dennis Skinner failed to make his usual Queen’s Speech quip because he has been too busy battling Scottish nationalists over his Commons seat, he revealed today.

The veteran Labour MP left State Opening onlookers stunned as he maintained a stony silence after Black Rod’s ceremonial summons.

Mr Skinner has created his own tradition of unscripted asides, often taking a swipe at the Tories or the royals as MPs file into the House of Lords to hear the monarch outline the Government’s legislative programme.

But he disappointed expectant politicians, commentators and TV viewers by keeping his thoughts to himself.

Here's the best of Dennis Skinner's quips through the years

The last time he kept his lips sealed at the crucial moment was 2002.

Mr Skinner, dubbed the “Beast of Bolsover”, explained his decision saying he had “other things on my mind”.

He told the Mirror: “I’ve got bigger fish to fry than uttering something.

“I’ve been fighting some other battles, haven’t I? I was fighting the Scot nats single-handed for a while.”

He said he survived “a big battle” this morning to cling onto his favoured seat on the green benches, which the SNP are trying to oust him from.

The party which seized 56 of Scotland’s 59 seats at the election has made snatching Mr Skinner’s spot one of its early Commons priorities.

But the defiant former pitman has fought a valiant rear-guard action to repel the SNP advance which did for so many of his party’s MPs north of the border.

“Why should they be on that bench?” he fumed.

“You can’t win unless you’re there at some unearthly hour in the morning.

“If I’d not been a coal miner in the past, getting up very early, I wouldn’t have been able to have done what I’ve been doing.

“I’m up at the crack of dawn.”

Asked what time he arrived to guarantee his particular seat today, he replied: “I’m not telling you some of the tactics I have to use, otherwise they’re not tactics any more, are they?”

The spot on the end of the Opposition frontbench has given Mr Skinner a prominent perch from which to make his annual quips.

Recent favourites include: “Coalition’s last stand,” at the 2014 Queen’s Speech; “Jubilee Year, double-dip recession, what a start!” in 2012, and “Have you got Helen Mirren on standby?” in 2006 when the actress was leaving cinema viewers gripped by her starring role in the hit film The Queen.

But probably his most famous Queen’s Speech aside came in 1990, weeks before Margaret Thatcher quit as Prime Minister.

Mr Skinner warned her: “It tolls for thee Maggie.”

But not all of his comments have sparked laughter.

In 2007, he asked: “Who shot the harriers?” referring to an incident at Sandringham where two protected hen harriers had been killed near the royals’ Norfolk estate.

Prince Harry and a pal were quizzed by police, who took no further action.

Mr Skinner admitted the remark “fell like a busted balloon”.

But he quashed fears today’s silence meant he has given up his controversial interventions for good.

“I haven’t stopped doing it altogether, I have got four more years in this parliament to go,” said the 83-year-old.

“There have been other occasions when I’ve not done it. You could expect one next year, without a doubt.”