A spokesperson for the Jeremy Corbyn leadership campaign has insisted that the British Labour leader was unable to find a seat on a train, after Virgin Trains released images appearing to cast doubt on the original claim that the train was packed.
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Virgin Trains has said the CCTV footage showed Corbyn was filmed 30 minutes after the train departed from London.
However, Virgin Trains issued a statement, along with CCTV footage showing there were indeed seats available.
“Later in the journey, seats became available after a family were upgraded to first class”.
Calling for the railways to be renationalised, he said: “This is a problem that many passengers face every day, commuters and long-distance travellers”.
Mr Corbyn was met with cheers as he said workers “in factories, in call centres, in local authorities” had ideas about how to change the economy, but were “frustrated that nobody is listening to them”. It’s not the fault of the train staff who were, of course, “absolutely brilliant” being working people; it was the system that was wrong.
Virgin Trains has released an extraordinary response to Jeremy Corbyn’s claim that he was forced to sit on the floor of one of its London to Newcastle services because there were no seats left.
Virgin Trains released the images of the Labour leader walking past rows of empty seats and said he later returned to sit in unreserved seating.
Mr Corbyn pooh-poohed criticism that he is unelectable by likening himself to the United States presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, who pulled out of the race to back his rival Hillary Clinton.
He is also backed by Momentum, a mass movement of party members who have turned out in their droves to support him at events around the country in recent days.
While Mr Corbyn is favourite to win the leadership contest because of strong support from thousands of members who voted for him a year ago, most Labour lawmakers say his left-wing views leave the party with little chance of winning power.
Kezia Dugdale, the leader of Scottish Labour, gave Smith her endorsement on Monday, following Sadiq Khan’s backing for him over the weekend.
“However, Jeremy then went on for the next two months refusing my insistence that he speak to Thangam, indeed refusing to speak to either of us, whether directly or through the shadow cabinet, the whips, or his own office”.
“The reality is there are not enough trains, we need more of them – and they’re also incredibly expensive, isn’t this a case for public ownership?”
He also sent footage of the Labour leader walking through a packed carriage.
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The filmmaker said there were a number of other passengers sitting on the floor during the initial part of the trip.
