Corbyn ‘walked by empty seats in carriage’

CCTV: Labour leader disputes Virgin claims

CCTV images have been released appearing to show Jeremy Corbyn walking past empty, unreserved train seats before he was filmed sitting on the floor complaining about “rampacked” carriages.

The Labour leader was travelling on the threehour 11am Virgin Trains service from London King’s Cross to Newcastle on August 11. A video emerged last week which showed him sitting on the floor and describing a lack of seats as “a problem that many passengers face every day”.

He then called for public ownership of the railways.

But Virgin Trains has released CCTV images which claim to show Mr Corbyn and his team walking past empty unreserved and reserved seats at 11.07am. He recorded his video message on the floor around 30 minutes into the journey before finding an unreserved seat at 11.43am with the help of the on board staff, Virgin Trains said. Mr Corbyn was on his way to debate with Owen Smith in a Labour leadership hustings in Gateshead.

A spokesman for his campaign said: “When Jeremy boarded the train he was unable to find unreserved seats, so he sat with other passengers in the corridor who were also unable to find a seat. Later in the journey, seats became available after a family were upgraded to first class, and Jeremy and the team he was travelling with were offered the seats by a very helpful member of staff.”

He said the aide with the Labour leader was Emma Rees, and he was seeking to sit with those in his group – which also included his wife, Laura Alvarez. On whether Mr Corbyn walked past seats that appeared to be unreserved, the spokesman said there were coats and bags on them which indicated people were sat there.

The spokesman also said they were looking into whether Virgin Trains breached Information Commissioner’s Office data protection guidelines by releasing the CCTV.

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson, who co-owns the train operator with Stagecoach, posted a link to the CCTV images on his Twitter account. A spokesman for Virgin Trains said: “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.”

The video of the him on the floor was reportedly shot by freelance filmmaker Yannis Mendez, who was following the Islington North MP during his campaign.

Mr Corbyn, who is filmed reading Private Eye magazine while sat in a corner, said: “This is a problem that many passengers face every day on the trains – commuters and long-distance travellers. Today this train is completely rampacked. The reality is there’s not enough trains, we need more of them, and they’re also incredibly expensive. Isn’t that a good case for public ownership?”

A Virgin Trains spokesman said: “We’d encourage Jeremy to book ahead next time he travels with us, both to reserve a seat and to ensure he gets our lowest fares.”

“We take issue with the idea he wasn’t able to be seated”