Credibility on the line

THE “Traingate” farce has serious political implications when it involves a Labour leader fighting a party battle and a billionaire operator desperate to derail re-nationalisation.

Jeremy Corbyn’s most fervent disciples and bitterest enemies both care little for the truth, one lot dismissing every inconvenient fact as a conspiracy and the other mob always prepared to believe the worst.

It is not hard to find packed trains, as commuters regularly forced to stand will testify, and the Daily Mirror has consistently called for the industry to be returned to public ownership.

Richard Branson and Virgin Trains have a vested interest in releasing pictures of Corbyn passing apparently empty seats before sitting outside a toilet to complain of overcrowding.

And while the Labour leader is quite right to try to highlight a problem many of us face, he must take care to adhere to his promise of straight talking, honest politics and steer clear of spin or his credibility may be undermined.

Mockery is fatal and for Labour to be back on track its leader – whether Corbyn or challenger Owen Smith – must avoid hitting the buffers.