Bradford MP George Galloway and Labour left-winger Dennis Skinner last night set up a showdown with the Government over its plans to cancel Prime Minister’s Questions so that senior ministers could attend Baroness Thatcher’s funeral.

The Bradford West Respect MP was joined by Mr Skinner as they objected to a Commons motion which would have cancelled PMQs and Scottish Questions and delayed the start of business until 2.30pm tomorrow.

The Government had hoped the motion would be nodded through unopposed, but the objection in the Commons last night will mean a debate of up to three hours today when Mr Galloway said he would try to persuade other MPs to oppose the plans to cancel PMQs.

Having stayed away from Westminster when Parliament was recalled last week after apparently being told disrespectful speeches against Lady Thatcher would not be tolerated, Mr Galloway said he would use today as an opportunity to have his say on the 87-year-old’s legacy. Yesterday Mr Galloway described Lady Thatcher as a “wicked woman” and criticised what he called a “tidal wave of guff” since her death.

Mr Galloway said: “We’ve already had the recall of Parliament, with MPs being paid up to £3,700 to fly back from the Caribbean holiday that they were on – and then fly back to start their holiday again. Now they want to cancel Prime Minister’s Questions. It’s absurd. There are millions of people in this country hate the very word Thatcher and Thatcherism, which continues to this day.”

David Cameron’s spokesman, who said the cancellation had been “agreed across the parties”, declined to comment on Mr Galloway’s intervention.

But Kris Hopkins, the Keighley MP, said: “There are plenty of people out there who didn’t like Margaret Thatcher, and George Galloway is certainly one of them.

“However, as Britain’s first female prime minister and the longest-serving prime minister of the last century – who achieved great success domestically and internationally – I believe she is entitled to respect. I have no doubt that the numbers of people lining her funeral route on Wednesday will visibly demonstrate how misjudged George Galloway’s words and actions have been.”

And Shipley MP Philip Davies said: “George is a great self-publicist and no doubt this is what it is all about.”