In response, Corbyn’s campaign team claimed he had given up his seat for a woman who was standing, however Virgin’s video seems to debunk their statement.
Advertisement
In an article for the New Statesman, Onwurah claims part of her portfolio was handed over to another MP, Thangam Debbonaire, in Corbyn’s contentious January reshuffle; and “when he realised what he had done, he gave the role back to me, without telling Thangam”.
A video then emerged which showed him sitting on the floor, reading a newspaper, and saying “this is a problem that many passengers face every day”, before calling for public ownership of the railways.
“We appointed others to fill their places and I wanted to say a huge thank you to those people who took on completely new jobs”. 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.
“The reality is there are not enough trains, we need more of them and they’re also incredibly expensive”.
But stills from CCTV footage released by Virgin Trains, which ran the service, appear to show Corbyn walking past empty, unreserved seats before sitting on the floor and filming his video.
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.
The first ballot papers go out on Monday morning to the estimated 640,000 members and supporters who will decide whether Mr Corbyn carries on as leader or is replaced by his challenger Owen Smith.
“Jeremy’s personal ratings are the worst of any Opposition leader on record and the Labour Party is suffering badly as a result”.
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.
Issuing further market insight William Hill Political Spokesperson Graham Sharpe commented: ‘Ninety-five per cent of all the money bet on the outcome is for Corbyn, including one bet of £60,000 in a Durham betting shop, but Mr Khan’s comments have boosted Mr Smith’s chances’.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has snubbed Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour party.
Advertisement
Smith triggered the contest by declaring his candidacy last month, warning that Corbyn’s leadership was making the possibility of a split in the party “dangerously real”. “A third of Labour voters said they did not know where the party stood on the referendum just a week before polling day”.
