THE state opening of Parliament was hit by a “censorship” scandal yesterday amid claims that the microphone closest to Dennis Skinner was deliberately turned away from him. 

The “beast of Bolsover” has been disrupting the annual pomp and ceremony with cutting one-liners since 1987 and didn’t disappoint fans this year. 

As parliamentary security chief Black Rod summoned MPs to the Lords for the Queen’s Speech, Mr Skinner shouted “hands off the BBC” to cheers from the Labour benches.