Dennis Skinner's 'mole' gag
Updated on 03 December 2008
The formal nature of the state opening of parliament is enlivened by a joke about "Tory moles".
Labour MP, Dennis Skinner, was heard to say "any Tory moles at the Palace?" after members were invited to the House of Peers ahead of the Queen's speech.
The quip prompted bursts of laughter from the benches, and was clearly audible on broadcast.
It follows a week in which Conservative MP Damian Green was arrested for allegedly receiving leaked information from a home office civil servant.
