Sally Bercow, the wife of the Commons Speaker, has said she will not be attending the funeral of Baroness Thatcher as she does not want to join in the "attempted canonisation" of the former prime minister.
Mrs Bercow, an outspoken Labour supporter, was invited to attend the service as the wife of her husband, John, who will be going.
But in a statement today, she said that she was not obliged to accompany him in the performance of his public duties.
"As Commons Speaker, John will be attending the funeral - and rightly so. But I'm not obliged to participate in my husband's public life - last time I looked, this was the 21st century! John holds public office and an important position, not me," she said.
"Although I'm genuinely sorry that Baroness Thatcher has passed away, I'm not going to be a hypocrite and join in this attempted canonisation of her."
She also accused No 10 of leaking details of her decision not to go to the press in order to try to undermine her husband.
"I'm astonished that Cameron's people haven't got better things to do! It's a predictably pathetic attempt to cause trouble for the Speaker - which has utterly failed - and a complete non-story," she said.
"Margaret Thatcher wouldn't have given a monkeys whether or not I attended her funeral so I don't see why the media cares either."
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