SIR Keir Starmer got emotional as he paid tribute to the Queen and proudly sung the national at Labour conference in Liverpool this morning.
In his opening speech, Sir Keir described the late Her Majesty as “this great country’s greatest monarch” and declared himself “proud to lead our party’s tribute to her”.
The Labour leader said: “She created a special, personal relationship with all of us. A relationship based on service and devotion to our country.
"Even now, after the mourning period has passed it still feels impossible to imagine a Britain without her.
"Hardly any of us have ever known anything else. For us, the late Queen has always been simply the Queen, the only Queen. Above all else, our Queen."
Thousands of conference delegates took part in a minute’s silence after Sir Keir's tribute.
To the huge relief of party bosses, no activists heckled or protested in the conference hall.
For the first time EVER conference delegates also sang the national anthem.
But stewards had to hand out lyric cards beforehand, in case any members didn’t know the words.
Sir Keir sung “God Save the King” with passion and pride in an effort to prove that Labour is patriotic again.
Just yesterday his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn blasted singing the national anthem at conference as a “very, very odd” idea.
Mr Corbyn told the BBC: “We don't as a country routinely go around singing the national anthem at every single event we go to.
“We are not that sort of, what I would call, excessively nationalist.”
The singing went off without a hitch, despite fears it could be hijacked by far-left activists.
Last night and early this morning party bosses underwent a massive whipping operation to ensure as many people filled the hall to sing as possible.
