Morrissey declines Channel 4 offer of alternative Christmas Day broadcast to rival Queen

The alternative Christmas message has been broadcast by Channel 4 since 1993

Morrissey, 1988 (Getty)

Morrissey has 'politely declined an invitation' from Channel 4 to rival the Queen’s annual Christmas Day television message.

In a statement posted on his fansite True to You, he said he had rejected an offer to deliver the message, which would be transmitted at the same time as the BBC’s broadcast of the Queen.

The alternative Christmas message has been broadcast by Channel 4 since 1993 with range of comedians and public figures, such as Sacha Baron Cohen, Katie Piper, Jamie Oliver and Edward Snowden.

Morrissey’s statement reads: “My view that the monarchy should be quietly dismantled for the good of England is reasonably well-known, but I don’t think Christmas Day is quite the time to be trading slaps.”

The anti-monarchist added: “The Queen should be allowed the impassioned trance of her annual address to the British people, if only to once again prove that, in her frozen posture, she has nothing to offer and nothing to say.”

However a Channel 4 spokesperson somewhat negated the claim that an offer had been made to the singer for him to deliver the Christmas broadcast.

"We are not aware of any approach having been made to Morrissey to deliver Channel 4’s Alternative Christmas message," they said.

Morrissey has been consistently vocal about his feelings on the royal family. In the last few years, he has suggested that they were partly responsible for the decline of endangered species. He also likened the Queen’s position to that of Muammar Gaddafi.