Leaked CCTV footage has finally revealed the truth about Corbyn’s infamous Traingate saga [VIDEO]

Corbyn Traingate CCTV
Support us and go ad-free

Leaked CCTV footage appears to finally reveal the truth about Jeremy Corbyn’s now-infamous ‘Traingate’ saga. And it could put to bed the repeated smears by both the mainstream media and Virgin Trains about the Labour leader’s journey in August 2016.

Traingate: revisited

Traingate‘ refers to an incident involving Corbyn on a Virgin Trains service from London King’s Cross to Newcastle. The Labour leader had to sit on the floor for part of the journey on 11 August 2016. This was because there were no free seats next to each other in standard class. A conductor did offer Corbyn seats in first class, which the Labour leader declined. But the conductor eventually found him seats, by getting other standard class passengers to move into first class.

The press were accused of manipulating the story to make Corbyn look bad, and using it to bury other bad news. Also, the story prompted a backlash by angry passengers against Richard Branson and Virgin Trains. And outlets like The Canary and SKWAWKBOX repeatedly debunked the Traingate saga.

Branson: busted

But now, Double Down News (DDN) has released CCTV footage from the train. And it shows that both the media and Branson’s company haven’t told the whole story:

Perhaps the most damning part of the DDN CCTV evidence relates to claims by both the media and Virgin Trains that Corbyn “walked past empty seats”. As The Huffington Post reported at the time, Virgin Trains released footage showing:

Seven minutes after the train left Kings Cross, Jeremy Corbyn walked by unreserved seats in the train’s coach H…

Read on...

A still of Virgin Trains CCTV footage was included in the article:

Corbyn Traingate Still

But as DDN footage now proves, none of these seats were actually empty. They were all occupied by either children, or other passengers who had temporarily moved.

Passengers: herded

DDN footage also confirms the stories of other passengers on the same journey, and corroborates their timings with Corbyn’s. And it shows countless other passengers experiencing the same journey as Corbyn’s: sitting on the floor of a ram-packed train. DDN even claims that some passengers “fell asleep”:

Corbyn Traingate Still DDN

The Canary asked Virgin Trains for comment. But it had not responded by the time of publication.

Corbyn: cleared

Corbyn said at the time:

This is a problem that many passengers face every day on the trains, commuters and long distance travellers. 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.

But his message about UK rail infrastructure was lost amid a sea of media noise over Traingate. So now, DDN has seemingly confirmed Corbyn’s story; perhaps putting Traingate to bed once and for all. Therefore, it is surely time for the conversation that the public should have had in August 2016. We must discuss the chaos on the UK rail network, and the case for full renationalisation of our trains.

Get Involved!

– Follow Double Down News on Facebook and Twitter.

Join The Canary, so we can keep holding the powerful to account.

Featured image via screengrab

We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support

The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.

The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.

So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.

Support us

Comments are closed