THE Speaker of the House of Commons has been pilloried on social media after saying the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey tomorrow is “the most important event the world will ever see”.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle made the comment on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg after being asked about the political and diplomatic aspects of the ceremony. 

There have already been controversies around China being invited to parts of the occasion, despite its record of human rights abuses against its Uighur muslim population.

Around 500 foreign dignitaries, including leads and royals, are due at the service in the biggest security and logistical operation of modern times.

Sir Lindsay said: “It's been important to try and make sure we get it right. 

“And it's about showing the respect and the dignity and doing it in the right way. 

“We should not allow anything to overshadow the most important event the world will ever see - and that's the funeral of Her Majesty.”

Critics noted the comment ignored everything else that lies in the future, such as human progress, war, disaster, climate change, and medical and technological advances. 

The journalist Tim Walker said the Queen, given all she had lived through, would surely regard the comment "absurdly unctuous".

Nazir Afzal OBE, a former Chief Crown Prosecutor and chancellor of the University of Manchester, said: “I like Lindsay Hoyle BUT the funeral of Her Majesty is NOT 'the most important event the world will ever see'.”

The podcaster and broadcaster Marine Purkiss said she “can’t believe” someone could say or think such a thing, especially in a position of power.

Podcaster James Melville also tweeted the clip, adding: “The Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle has described the Queen’s funeral as 'the most important event the world will ever see'.

"We are living in a world that has gone completely through the looking glass and is tunnelling down the rabbit hole.”

Others were less restrained, calling the comment “totally misguided and insulting”, “inane s***”, and “stark raving f***ing bonkers”, and Sir Lindsay himself “obsequious and servile” and a "forelock tugging brown noser".

However the Speaker was defended by the journalist Dan Hodgesr.

He tweeted: “Seeing some people mocking Lindsay Hoyle this morning.

“I'm very glad he's been presiding over the events of the past few days, and with a dignity and modesty not always found in some of his predecessors.”

Sir Lindsay, a former Labour MP, also told the Laura Kuennsberg show: “The passing of Her Majesty has brought people together, so we shouldn't be distracted by others, and I think that's the problem that we're seeing.

“People always want a different story and a different angle. 

“What I want to do is keep focused. This is about the royal family. This is about their grief. 

This is about the people of this country coming together to pay their respects, none more so than yesterday when I had the Overseas Territories in, the UK Overseas Territories, the premiers, the governors all coming as one together to pay their respects. 

“And it just shows you. The Commonwealth has done the same. 

“These are all the people that will be there at the funeral. But on the other [hand}, you know, we will not be distracted by the stories.

"I am very focused, will remain focused, until Monday. And then we will see the politics coming back to the House of Commons.”