Daily Mail rails against Virgin Trains’ banning of paper

VIRGIN Trains has been accused of “censorship” after it said it would no longer stock the Daily Mail due to concerns about its stance on immigration, gay rights and unemployment.

The newspaper said the “disgraceful” decision was a means of controlling the choice of papers passengers were offered, which it claimed were now all anti-brexit.

Virgin Trains told them that the only reason the paper would no longer be sold was to “save space”.

However, in an internal memo, the company, owned by Sir Richard Branson, told staff that “considerable concern” had been raised by colleagues about the Mail’s editorial position on various issues, which it had concluded was “not at all compatible” with its brand or beliefs.

A spokesman for the Daily Mail said: “It is disgraceful that, at a time of massive customer dissatisfaction over ever-increasing rail fares, and after the taxpayer was forced to bail out Virgin’s East Coast mainline franchise, a decision strongly criticised by the Mail, that [it] should now announce that for political reasons it is censoring the choice of newspapers it offers to passengers.”

The train operator said it made the decision in November as part of a regular review of the products it sells in the shop on-board its west coast trains and after listening to feedback from staff.

In an internal note to staff, which was written last November but only emerged yesterday, Virgin Trains wrote: “Thousands of people choose to read the Daily Mail every day. But, from Nov 26, they will no longer be reading it courtesy of VT. This won’t suit all of our customers or all of our people, it’s certain to draw some criticism. But we’ve listened to many colleagues over the last few months, and we feel that this is the right move to take.”