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Virgin Trains disputes Jeremy Corbyn claim over lack of seats Virgin Trains disputes Jeremy Corbyn claim over lack of seats
(35 minutes later)
Virgin Trains disputed Jeremy Corbyn’s filmed account of having to sit on the floor of a “ram-packed” London-to-Newcastle service, releasing CCTV footage that it said showed the Labour leader walking past empty, unreserved seats. Virgin Trains has disputed Jeremy Corbyn’s filmed account of having to sit on the floor of a “ram-packed” London-to-Newcastle service, releasing CCTV images that it said showed the Labour leader walking past empty, unreserved seats.
In the brief video from the trip on 11 August, Corbyn had lamented the lack of seats on the train, saying his only option would have been to upgrade to first class. In a statement on Tuesday which was supported by Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Trains said it wanted to “clarify” Corbyn’s account of the journey on 11 August.
“This is a problem that many passengers face every day; commuters and long-distance travellers,” he said. “Today this train is completely ram-packed. The staff are absolutely brilliant, working really hard to help everybody.” It published a picture that it said appeared to show the Labour leader sitting down at 11.43am, shortly after a freelance film-maker travelling with his team had stopped shooting.
In a statement on Tuesday, Virgin Trains said it wanted to “clarify” Corbyn’s account of the journey. It said the footage showed: “Mr Corbyn returning to coach H and taking a seat there, with the help of the onboard crew, around 45 minutes into the journey and over two hours before the train reached Newcastle. Mr Corbyn’s team carried out their filming around 30 minutes into the journey.”
It said that CCTV footage from the train at 11.08 “shows Mr Corbyn and his team walked past empty, unreserved seats in coach H before walking through the rest of the train to the far end, where his team sat on the floor and started filming”, it said. Virgin said earlier CCTV footage from the train, at 11.08am, “shows Mr Corbyn and his team walked past empty, unreserved seats in coach H before walking through the rest of the train to the far end, where his team sat on the floor and started filming”.
“The same footage then shows Mr Corbyn returning to coach H and taking a seat there, with the help of the onboard crew, around 45 minutes into the journey and over two hours before the train reached Newcastle. Mr Corbyn’s team carried out their filming around 30 minutes into the journey.” The company statement was quickly followed by a tweet from Branson, the head of the Virgin Group.
The statement was later tweeted by the head of the Virgin group, Richard Branson.
Mr Corbyn & team walked past empty unreserved seats then filmed claim train was ‘ram-packed’ https://t.co/R5hawIpQek pic.twitter.com/22t8EkjW5lMr Corbyn & team walked past empty unreserved seats then filmed claim train was ‘ram-packed’ https://t.co/R5hawIpQek pic.twitter.com/22t8EkjW5l
The Virgin statement said that, as well as unreserved seats, Corbyn walked past seats which were reserved but not taken, meaning they were available for other passengers to use. In the brief film of Corbyn, the Labour leader lamented the lack of seats on the train, saying his only option would have been to upgrade to first class.
The video released by Corbyn’s team was shot by a freelance filmmaker, Yannis Mendez, who has been following Corbyn and volunteers during his leadership campaign. Corbyn was travelling to a debate with Owen Smith in the Labour leadership hustings in Gateshead. “This is a problem that many passengers face every day; commuters and long-distance travellers,” he said. “Today this train is completely ram-packed. The staff are absolutely brilliant, working really hard to help everybody.”
The Virgin statement said that, as well as unreserved seats, Corbyn walked past seats that were reserved but not taken, meaning they were available for other passengers to use. Branson used the image in his tweet.
The video released by Corbyn’s team was shot by Yannis Mendez, who has been following Corbyn and volunteers during his leadership campaign. Corbyn was travelling to a debate with Owen Smith in the Labour leadership hustings in Gateshead.
The party leader said the apparent lack of seats emphasised the need for the railways to be returned to public ownership, one of his flagship transport policies. “The reality is there are not enough trains, we need more of them – and they’re also incredibly expensive,” he said.The party leader said the apparent lack of seats emphasised the need for the railways to be returned to public ownership, one of his flagship transport policies. “The reality is there are not enough trains, we need more of them – and they’re also incredibly expensive,” he said.
Corbyn’s rival Owen Smith was quick to respond on Twitter.
My campaign remains on track. Proud to be genuinely standing up for ordinary people.