But the statement did not address Virgin Trains’ footage that apparently Corbyn had a seat at the start of the journey which he returned to after he did his bit of filming. “Mr Corbyn’s team carried out their filming around 30 minutes into the journey”.
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Did Jeremy Corbyn really “walk past empty seats” before his packed train claim?
“We have to take issue with the idea that Mr Corbyn wasn’t able to be seated on the service, as this clearly wasn’t the case”, Virgin said. Mr Branson used the image in his tweet.
The footage shows that the UK Labour leader walked past rows of empty seats before sitting on the ground between carriages for a video in which he criticised the state of the nation’s railways.
Mr Corbyn’s campaign spokesman said there were coats and bags on the seats which indicated people were sat there.
It was claimed Corbyn had avoided the seats because he could not find four seats at a table or a double seat for him and his wife to use.
The video was shot by Yannis Mendez, who has been following Mr Corbyn and volunteers during his leadership campaign.
In case you’re wondering, Corbyn was on his way to debate with Owen Smith in a Labour leadership hustings in Gateshead.
“No amount of spinning by Virgin will dent the people’s will to see our railways brought back into public ownership”. “The reality is that there are not enough trains, we need more of them – and they’re also incredibly expensive”.
He also sent footage of the Labour leader walking through a packed carriage.
The Transport Salaried Staff’s Association Union’s general-secretary Manuel Cortes accused Virgin of being disingenuous for releasing video “that does not show empty seats”.
“Video footage of Corbyn sitting down is after he filmed video”.
The remarkable clip, released by Virgin Trains, comes after Mr Corbyn was praised for reportedly rejecting the offer of a first class ticket and opting to sit on the floor.
However, there are some people sticking up for Corbyn.
Voters who earlier this year said they would back Labour but have changed their minds say the party is “a shambles”, with Jeremy Corbyn the single biggest reason for their switch.
Ellen – who asked to not be fully named – told the Guardian that Mr Corbyn had seemingly gone through the entire standard-class section of the train but had not been able to find a seat.
“I’d just say that’s very, very indicative – the establishment is absolutely petrified about what this campaign is about, what this movement is about”.
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Separately, The Guardian newspaper also reports that one passenger interviewed after Virgin’s claims were made said “there were people standing in all the corridors”.
