Virgin Trains has strongly challenged claims by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn that he was forced to sit on the floor of a “ram-packed” London to Newcastle service because there were no empty seats.
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A Labour source said Mr Corbyn’s recollection of why the Labour leader walked past seemingly empty seats, as shown in one CCTV still, was that there were no vacant pairs of seats, and he wanted to sit next to his wife, Laura, for the journey.
Jeremy Corbyn has become embroiled in a furious row with Virgin Trains over claims of overcrowding and his agenda for rail nationalisation after he recorded a video on a service he took to Newcastle ahead of a leadership hustings.
In a statement on Tuesday supported by Richard Branson, Virgin Trains said it wanted to “clarify” Mr Corbyn’s account of the journey on August 11th.
Mr Corbyn has been contacted for comment.
In his original August 11 video, Coybyn sat on the floor of an “overcrowded” train.
The spokesman also said they were looking into whether Virgin Trains breached Information Commissioner’s Office data protection guidelines by releasing the CCTV.
It was lapped up by Corbyn supporters and was viewed tens of thousands of times, winning him sympathy even from people who aren’t his usual fanbase.
A major train operator has released CCTV images of Jeremy Corbyn walking past empty seats before it said he filmed himself sitting on the floor.
Later he adds: “This train is completely ram-packed… the reality is there’s not enough trains”.
“Is that not a good case for public ownership”.
Labour leadership hopeful Owen Smith has vowed to address the country’s economic problems if he beats Jeremy Corbyn in next month’s election, telling voters: “What you won’t get from me is some lunatic at the top of the Labour Party”.
His campaign team said he was unable to find unreserved seats for his group, which included aide Emma Rees and his wife Laura Alvarez, s o he sat with other passengers in the corridor who were also unable to secure a seat.
“Video footage of Corbyn sitting down is after he filmed video”.
“And Jeremy and the team he was travelling with were offered the seats by a very helpful member of staff”. There were no seats he was able to find and staff couldn’t find any either, ” the source said.
Shortly after Virgin released the statement, Corbyn’s leadership rival published a tweet which appeared to take a subtle dig at the current Labour leader.
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On Twitter, Mr Smith said his campaign remained “on track” and that he was “proud to be genuinely standing up for ordinary people”.
