Days after Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘traingate’ indecent became national news, the Labour leader issued a new threat. In a heated press conference, Mr Corbyn threatened to nationalise Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Trains. This came as his aides called the Virgin founder a “tax exile.”
In the press conference Mr Corbyn admitted there were seats available when he was filmed sitting on the train floor saying there was a lack of seats. The press conference, his first public appearance since the indecent, also saw the leader lash out at journalists for questioning his version of the story.
Virgin Trains released CCTV which challenged Corbyn’s version of the story. The CCTV footage shows the Labour leader appearing to walk past unfilled, unreserved seats before filming the video on the floor and then returning to take a seat for the reminder of the 3 hour journey from London to Newcastle.
Mr Corbyn giving his first account said, “Yes I did walk through the train. Yes, I did look for two empty seats together so I could sit down with my wife to talk to her. That wasn’t possible, so I went to the end of the train.” He further added that after sitting on the floor for the start of the journey the train manager found some empty seats and he moved to a seat.
In another twist, the Information Commissioner’s Office said it was investigating Virgin Trains’ decision to release the CCTV footage citing data protection concerns.
