An Evening With... Jeremy Corbyn

Malthusian

It is irrelevant whether Comrade Jeremy was sitting in a seat or sitting on the floor. Focusing on this kind of minutia is a typical attempt by the counter-revolutionary press to distract attention from the real ishyoos, like the need to take important industries such as the railways back under state control.

We can't expect Jeremy to think revolutionary thoughts and plan the conversion of the UK into a socialist economy while sitting on the floor, comrades. He has shown that he feels the discomfort of the downtrodden masses forced to travel on the train without a seat - that is all that matters, not whether he had a seat in reality or not. What is reality anyway?

Herzlos

I suspect he's let the unreserved seats fill up (so that other people can use them), then sat on the floor, and moved to a seat once they became available again after half an hour. Seems perfectly reasonable, and as said, it's not hard to find an overloaded train.

Malthusian

jamesperrett wrote: »

I've seen the Virgin press release - I can't see a seat without a reserved tag on it in the picture they include with the press release. If the unreserved seats were obvious then I would have thought Virgin would have shown them in the press release.

In this picture, on the right hand side, window seat, third row from the back. There's no-one sitting there and there's clearly no reserved sticker in the backrest.

The reserved stickers are a red herring anyway as hardly anyone sits in their reserved seat normally. Unless the train is rammed - and this train wasn't - people sit wherever they please and only bother to find their reserved seat if they get asked to move. In all the years I've travelled on trains I've always sat in the first seat I find, usually with a reserved sticker, and I've only been turfed out by the guy who reserved it once.

*edit*

Apart from the above, a seat with a reserved sticker may only be reserved for a subsequent leg of the journey. So it is bonkers to stand or sit on the floor rather than sit in a seat with a reserved sticker. They're perfectly fair game until the guy with the ticket comes to claim it. You might get off before the owner comes to claim it, and even if you don't then at least you've had a seat for some of the journey.

N1AK

jamesperrett wrote: »

I've seen the Virgin press release - I can't see a seat without a reserved tag on it in the picture they include with the press release. If the unreserved seats were obvious then I would have thought Virgin would have shown them in the press release.

So you're seriously suggesting that there's any real chance that Virgin trains is lying about not having unreserved seats available? You'd have to be mad to think Branson would shoot himself in the foot by fueling this story if that were true.

If the best he can do is claim he couldn't find an unreserved seat then we can add it to the growing list of things people claim he messed up on purpose, but he has denied on the basis that it was actually incompetence, alongside his pathetic 'attempt' at a referendum campaign.

mrginge

I'd be perfectly happy for the railways to come back under state control.
Maybe not good old British Rail style, but something a bit more accountable and customer focussed instead of the shambles we have now.

Not that I'm in any way insane enough to vote Jezza in of course. Any old loon can stand there and say 'I'm nationalising the railways', but it takes a bit more than half of Mulligan and O'Hare alongside an economically illiterate Rottweiler to actually get it done properly.

westernpromise

It's a kinder, gentler lie.

BobQ

michaels wrote: »

That is just the mainstream media who should be ignored when it comes to reporting about JC.

This is actually unusual, normally companies steer well clear of challenging politicians because they never know when they might be in a position to hurt them so this shows that Vigin group have no fear of JC - make of that what you will.

I think that Virgin needs to put up or shut up. Put up the CCTV recording that shows they are right that is.

Thrugelmir

mrginge wrote: »

I'd be perfectly happy for the railways to come back under state control.
Maybe not good old British Rail style, but something a bit more accountable and customer focussed instead of the shambles we have now.

The RMT has never changed. God help us if you we return to those dark days.

[Deleted User]

Without wishing to be TOO critical of someone who hopes that the British electorate will entrust him with the fate of the country, why would anyone travelling a long distance on seemingly crowded train service NOT reserve a seat?

It doesn't require a leap of the imagination, surely? He is aware that you can book seats? :rotfl:

We quite regularly travel on Scotrail services and unless it's a really short journey, or perhaps on an Edinburgh-Glasgow service which run every 15 minutes most of the time, we ALWAYS book seats.

Doesn't say much for his forward planning skills really, does it?

WR

BobQ

Malthusian wrote: »

It is irrelevant whether Comrade Jeremy was sitting in a seat or sitting on the floor. Focusing on this kind of minutia is a typical attempt by the counter-revolutionary press to distract attention from the real ishyoos, like the need to take important industries such as the railways back under state control.

We can't expect Jeremy to think revolutionary thoughts and plan the conversion of the UK into a socialist economy while sitting on the floor, comrades. He has shown that he feels the discomfort of the downtrodden masses forced to travel on the train without a seat - that is all that matters, not whether he had a seat in reality or not. What is reality anyway?

I disagree. Corbyn has made a strong pitch to the effect he will address the real issues that ordinary people have to deal with. If the train was packed and he had to sit on the floor it is a fair point. Equally fair is why have a camera crew following you? If they were making a film about Jeremy fair enough. If it was about crowded trains maybe not. Either way if Virgin have CCTV they can show the evidence. So far they have not as I understand.