Did Jeremy Corbyn really '˜walk past empty seats' before his packed train claim?

CCTV footage has been released appearing to show Jeremy Corbyn walked past empty train seats before he was filmed sitting on the floor complaining about the 'completely ram-packed' carriages.
By The Newsroom
Published 23rd Aug 2016, 15:36 BST
Updated 25th Aug 2016, 19:11 BST

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Handout CCTV footage dated 11/08/16 issued by Virgin Trains which was filmed at 11.08am, approximately 8 min after departure from King's Cross in central London, showing Labour Party leaderJeremy Corbyn, walking past several empty, unreserved seats in Coach F, after a video emerged last week which showed Mr Corbyn 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. Picture: Virgin Trains/PA WireHandout CCTV footage dated 11/08/16 issued by Virgin Trains which was filmed at 11.08am, approximately 8 min after departure from King's Cross in central London, showing Labour Party leaderJeremy Corbyn, walking past several empty, unreserved seats in Coach F, after a video emerged last week which showed Mr Corbyn 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. Picture: Virgin Trains/PA Wire
Handout CCTV footage dated 11/08/16 issued by Virgin Trains which was filmed at 11.08am, approximately 8 min after departure from King's Cross in central London, showing Labour Party leaderJeremy Corbyn, walking past several empty, unreserved seats in Coach F, after a video emerged last week which showed Mr Corbyn 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. Picture: Virgin Trains/PA Wire

The Labour leader was travelling on the three-hour Virgin Trains service from London to Newcastle on August 11.

A video emerged last week which showed Mr Corbyn 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.

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But Virgin Trains has released CCTV images which appear to show him and his team walking past empty, unreserved seats before the filming began.

The train operator’s footage also shows Mr Corbyn sitting down in an empty seat more than two hours before reaching Newcastle.

A Virgin Trains spokesman 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.

“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 on board again.”

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Mr Corbyn was on his way to debate with Owen Smith in a Labour leadership hustings in Gateshead.

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson, who co-owns Virgin Trains with Stagecoach, posted a link to the CCTV images on his Twitter account.

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Related topics:Jeremy CorbynRichard BransonLabourNewcastleLondonYorkshire PostGatesheadStagecoach