Corbyn’s fake train story

The Telegraph reports:

Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of “hypocrisy” and “spin”  after CCTV footage revealed he had a seat on a train despite suggesting it was so “ram-packed” he was forced to sit on the floor.

Sir Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Trains and one of Britain’s best known entrepreneurs, took the remarkable step of releasing evidence to defend the company’s reputation. 

The footage showed the Labour leader walking past empty seats before sitting on the floor, where he filmed a video which was released last week in which he called for the renationalisation of the railways. 

So much for his man of the people moment.

Labour MPs said the footage, which was first published by The Telegraph, showed Mr Corbyn was a “charlatan” who was “pretending to be one thing when he is really quite another”. 

Chris Bryant, who served in Mr Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, said: “The biggest sin in politics is hypocrisy. I think a lot of people will feel led up the garden path by this.”

A spokesman for Mr Corbyn admitted that he had a seat for most of the journey but claimed he had initially sat on the floor because he could not find any that were unreserved, despite appearing to pass several in the footage.

Harriet Harman, the former acting Labour leader, said she was “baffled” by the incident, adding the best way to build the case for renationalisation was with “facts and figures” not “sitting outside a toilet in a railway carriage”. 

Tory MPs don’t even bother attacking him now. They want him to stay. Harman sums it up well.