Jeremy Corbyn seems to have beef with everyone at the moment – well, everyone seems to have beef with him.
The poor Labour leader doesn’t seem to have many friends in the media and even his own MPs are doing everything they can to get shut of him.
Corbyn is dealing with a leadership contest and all-out mutiny from his own parliamentary party, but another massive shitstorm has just blown his way in the shape of billionaire businessman Richard Branson.
It all boils down to a train journey Corbyn took on one of Branson’s Virgin Trains.
What happened?
Jeremy Corbyn took a train between London and Newcastle two weeks ago. You might remember it because Corbyn was pictured sat on the floor of the train which he claimed was over-crowded and ‘ram-packed’.
It’s a situation many of us have faced before at busy times on the trains, but here was a politician – a leader of a political party no less – sat on the floor like a common man.
Jeremy Corbyn joins seatless commuters on FLOOR for three-hour train journey https://t.co/dINsCikhuR pic.twitter.com/CmlmcV3gu7
— Rachael Swindon (@Rachael_Swindon) August 16, 2016
“This is a problem that many passengers face every day on the trains, commuters and long distance travellers,” he said in a video he made while on the floor.
“Today this train is completely ram-packed. The staff on the train are absolutely brilliant, working really hard to help everybody. The reality is there’s not enough trains, we need more of them.”
The video unsurprisingly went viral and many of his supporters were gushing about how humble and down-to-earth he was by not demanding a space in First Class and then charging it to the tax payer.
Obviously Corbyn used it to make a political point. Labour’s policy is to bring the railways back under state control, rather than have them run by private firms (some from France, Holland and Germany) which Corbyn claims means profits are put before passengers.
The whole sitting on the floor thing seemed to illustrate his point perfectly. Almost too perfectly.
But then…
Virgin Trains then waded into the whole thing to burst Corbyn’s bubble on the ‘over-crowded’ train thing.
Yes trains can be bloody overcrowded, just not the one Corbyn was travelling on that day – or so Virgin claim.
Branson’s company took the unusual step of releasing CCTV stills captured during the Labour leader’s three-hour train journey on August 11 to contest that it was not ‘ram packed’ as the veteran politician had asserted.
They appear to show Corbyn walking past empty seats around 30 minutes into his trip to Newcastle before he went and sat on the floor at the end of the carriage and made his film.
Then CCTV still appear to show him going and sitting down in a seat in Coach H of the train 45 minutes into the journey.
Virgin admitted their east- and west-coast mainline services can get busy at peak times or when there’s a cup final on when people struggle to find a seat.
“But 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,” a Virgin 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, and we look forward to welcoming him onboard again.”
https://twitter.com/jamesrbuk/status/768100419214114816
But it didn’t end there
It’s one thing Virgin Trains coming out to try and set the record straight, but it’s another thing when the boss of the whole outfit pipes up.
Richard Branson himself turned up to the fight, swinging his dick. Branson stated categorically that Corbyn had walked past unreserved seats on the train he claimed was ‘ram packed’.
Mr Corbyn & team walked past empty unreserved seats then filmed claim train was ‘ram-packed’ https://t.co/R5hawIpQek pic.twitter.com/22t8EkjW5l
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) August 23, 2016
That’s massive coming from the Virgin Group’s mega-money owner and a clear statement that they’re not expecting to be dealing with a Labour- or Corbyn-led Government any time soon.
Labour’s press team were quick to counter Virgin’s claims that seats were available with the following statement…
“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.
“Passengers across Britain will have been in similar situations on overcrowded, expensive trains. That is why our policy to bring the trains back into public ownership, as part of a plan to rebuild and transform Britain, is so popular with passengers and rail workers.”
The Guardian claim to have spoken to another passenger who was sat near Corbyn on the floor of the carriage – a mother named Ellen, who had her photo taken with him at the time.
The paper reports her as saying: “He’s not lying. When I saw him he was in coach A, right at the front. He hadn’t managed to find a seat in the whole of the train.
“I was sat on the floor, there was no space for me to get a seat. There were people in every space between every carriage. It was totally overcrowded. They were full of bags and full of people.”
https://twitter.com/CharlesBAnthony/status/768090596410089476
What has the reaction been?
Like anything with Jeremy Corbyn, it was never going to just blow over. Every paper in the land was covering this very British scandal and you can probably expect it all over the evening news.
Unsurprisingly #TrainGate was the top trending topic on Twitter.
Obviously there were people backing Corbyn
Me & @jeremycorbyn ! Fact: he got seat abt 45 mins in when staff started shuffling ppl around! #traingate pic.twitter.com/g8vhayNEmf
— (C) Keren Harrison ⚽️ (@KerenOrient) August 23, 2016
https://twitter.com/peterwalker99/status/768093992764473344
https://twitter.com/CharlesBAnthony/status/768091094567485440
Corbyn sitting-on-train-floor photo may've been stage-managed but every single commuter knows truth of modern train travel.
It's the reality— Alison Moyet (@AlisonMoyet) August 23, 2016
Just as there were people attacking him over it
The #traingate stunt has taken away from the real issue for many passengers who have to travel daily on overcrowded trains.
— Dame Anne McGuire 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 (@AnneMcGuire97) August 23, 2016
https://twitter.com/JolyonGreen/status/768074518745210880
This video says it all… #traingate https://t.co/ql9Ntyb2Gh
— Will Hingley (@Will_Hingley) August 23, 2016
It wasn't "ram packed". It was "full of bull". #Traingate pic.twitter.com/X2isZNWb9O
— ™TM™ (@newsfondue) August 23, 2016
https://twitter.com/nutri_lad/status/768086215551774720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
But most people couldn’t help just taking the piss
Don't get all the fuss about Corbyn sitting on the floor on a train. @leroylamb did it after 20 pints 😂🍺🍺🍺@drpatuti pic.twitter.com/gpFnyzQYSS
— Rumpelstiltskin (@SierraLeeholme) August 16, 2016
BREAKING: Richard Branson of @VirginTrains reveals temporary staff member who combed CCTV for #traingate footage pic.twitter.com/k6TjC3rD5v
— Charlie Mansell (@charliemansell) August 23, 2016
https://twitter.com/WowbaggerSeven/status/768081504941576192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
My Mum's kitchen is absolutely rammed. #TrainGate pic.twitter.com/u5OFboFIyJ
— Shane Morgan (@MrShaneMorgan) August 23, 2016
Corbyn toughs it out in Labour's "ram-packed" frontbench pic.twitter.com/NVAEJ8BxOz
— Asa Bennett (@asabenn) August 23, 2016
Last time I saw Jeremy Corbyn surrounded by this many empty seats he was delivering a statement in Parliament pic.twitter.com/cCu4m4wn2j
— Sean Kemp (@Sean_Kemp) August 23, 2016
The pictures Virgin Trains and the MSM doesn't want you to see. #TrainGate pic.twitter.com/cCHZjsIW7m
— Ben (@Jamin2g) August 23, 2016
https://twitter.com/MrDougCowan/status/768137480012984320
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