Yeah if Virgin want to make a story of it they should make all the CCTV available, otherwise it is just PR propaganda
Jeremy Corbyn - Not Not Labour Party(?), not a Communist (BBC)
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Yeah if Virgin want to make a story of it they should make all the CCTV available, otherwise it is just PR propaganda
I only read the article about 'crushing the rail unions' (basically the RMT) in the Telegraph here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...ush-the-rail-unions-once-and-for-all--voters/.
But he has written that he supports unions: http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2015/11/trade-unions-should-not-consider-breaking-law
I don't agree with him, by the way, just not aware that he has moved his position to be so anti-union since last November.
Owen Smith was adamant last month that he's not directly involved in his leadership campaign, though he's certainly done everything he can while apparently not on the payroll. News programme rent-a-gob would probably be closer to his job description these days.
Discussing Corbyn with some of you is like discussing Moyes in the united forum. Everything is scorched earth.
It was an effective bit of PR, the kind he needs to do more. I really dont think it matters whether that particular train was rammed. At least not if you care more about the issue than petty points.
Well thank feck problem solved eh, lets stop everything Virgin have solved all the rail issues.
Also doesn't help that large parts of the media and his own party are so set against him that they treat the PR department of the train company in question with complete credulity
I dont get this - the seats were reserved
It leaves kings X and its next stop is york two and a half hours away... if the seat was reserved from york you can sit in it... if its reserved from london and nobody is using it then you can sit in it
Either he has been caught out as being terrible at spinning his PR and has a team of spin doctors incapable of booking a train likely to actually be full - or he is too thick to understand how train tickets work - either way its hardly a ringing endorsement of his ability to run the country
It leaves kings X and its next stop is york two and a half hours away... if the seat was reserved from york you can sit in it... if its reserved from london and nobody is using it then you can sit in it
Either he has been caught out as being terrible at spinning his PR and has a team of spin doctors incapable of booking a train likely to actually be full - or he is too thick to understand how train tickets work - either way its hardly a ringing endorsement of his ability to run the country
The problem with his 'defenders' testimony is that they also detail that Virgin staff were able to seat his whole team together so they confirm that there were actually seats on the train.
I find your demand for full CCTV footage to be released kind of amusing, like a real crime might have been committed.
That said I have sat all the way from Manchester to Edinburgh in the floor a few times so the issue exists but it isn't an important issue by a long shot. I actually found a sense of camaraderie with my fellow floor sitters, one girl shared her lunch with me and once I ended up talking to a guy about music for the whole journey.
To be fair it's a lot easier when it's just you by yourself, I image it's a nightmare if you've got kids with you.
personally as a tax payer I wish he had upgraded to first class cracked out the lap top and done some bloody work like we pay him for as he is a sitting mp.
That is true.
@sun_tzu don't they open up first class to everyone when the train is overpacked anyway?
If Corbyn wants to make this story go away he should liken Virgin Trains' staff to Nazi stormtroopers. If we've learned anything in the last week it is that Smith and his campaign's backers go awfully quiet when that comparison makes an appearance.
I've got to be honest, I never saw the problem with Osborne going First Class and workin during the trip.
That was one Labour donor though, writing a column which, whilst having a kernel of a point (Corbyn's electability) then jumped several sharks. I don't like the relentless focus on Corbyn's every 'error' (see here for another example: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/poli...winger-who-stood-against-labour-a3327201.html - which is being blown out of proportion - maybe he was just asked for a photo?!). But nor do I like the way Corbyn is being painted as a martyr to hostile forces by many commentators. It isn't helpful. It makes the man central to the movement. That isn't good for long-term change (see Chavez, Blair, Sanders as examples).
I agree. The train is one of the best places to get work done because there are few interruptions.
After the PLPs uproar that Corbyn needed to condemn every two bob dickhead who sent abuse to MPs on Twitter and elsewhere, plus their calls for Livingstone to be expelled (rightly) for his playing of the Nazi card, the least I expect is a distancing comment from them regarding someone with the influence that Michael Foster has. It isn't even as if they've not been made aware of the comments, you'll do well to find a MP that hasn't been tweeted asking for their views and the reply is almost unanimously silence. I've not seen much backlash heading McTernan's way today either.
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Mystery children taking up all the seats too I hear from some Corbyn spokeswoman.....before they mysteriously disappeared of course.Well I have written elsewhere (and at CLP meetings) that there is an irony in all these MPs suddenly finding that the Labour Party has problems with abuse, misogyny and anti-semitism. They weren't much interested in these issues before Corbyn got elected. Still, at least things are getting focused on now.
But, quite apart from that, the leader will always be in a special (and unfair) position, whereby s/he will have to be judged by standards which are much harsher than others who are critics or challengers. It was always that way, sadly.
I hope not... I don't want the riff raff in with me
In all seriousness I don't know...
They're not getting focused on though are they? They're a temporary tool being used for the leadership election. These MPs don't give a toss about abuse if they can't get a Newsnight appearance or newspaper column out of it.
You have a good point there. In that case, Owen Smith should come out and say that, if he wins the leadership, Foster and McTernan (who is still a member amusingly) will be out of the party in his first week.
Just came in after work to find #traingate was a thing. It's very sad. You either believe a privatised train company or members of the public on that train that have spoken out to defend Corbyn's account of events.
Surely you haven't ruled out the clear truth that those "members of the public" have had their arms twisted by racist, fascist, Nazi stormtrooper, trot entryists?
Well I cannot speak for other CLPs, but at mine there are a number of us who are seeking to ensure that these issues do not leave the table, and that those MPs who are so critical of Corbyn on these issues actually put their money where their mouths are and help Labour ensure that there is a massive change of culture in the party. This is where the membership can make a real difference immediately.
Or state that their views are unhelpful / not reflective of the membership / that the Party no longer needs their money or advice etc.
It's very sad that a politician gives up his beliefs for the advice of some very, very amateurish spin merchants. It's a mess, I don't see how Virgin Trains can be painted as the villain in this pantomime.
That's a pretty ludicrous thing to say, when you consider that one of their colleagues was just killed. The abuse targeted at female MPs is pretty appalling as well. It may not be a Corbyn issue, but it's definitely something that needs to be raised and targeted.
Good job all the Corbyn supporters labelled as 'racist' or 'fascist' and likened to Nazi stormtroopers are men then or they'd have to comment on it.
If they want to 'raise and target' the issue of abuse, you don't then immediately turn a blind eye to it when it's not being directed at you or someone you support.
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I'm sorry. What beliefs were given up here? As for #traingate, you are more prepared to accept the version of events painted by Virgin than those of members of the public that were also unable to find seats? I'm confused.
About a new politics (non spin) was how I interpreted it. I'm more open to accept CCTV footage than the bullshit spouted by Corbyn's folks. All a bit contrived in the end, no?
I can't wait for the railways to be re-nationalised. And the energy companies. And bus services.
Hahahahahahahaha
wow another version of 'the truth', I retract anything I posted as this is clearly the single source of truth in the world ever.
Hey it's Ubik, so here comes the condemnation of Michael Foster and John McTernan for their comments and another, rather delayed, one of Ian Austin. Any second now...any second...
virgin on the ridiculous?
Why didn't he reserve seats in the first place? That's the biggest criticism to be levelled at him!
If he didn't know which train he'd be on ....
