Jeremy Corbyn gets angry with questions about #traingate after Labour leader admits he ignored empty seats because he wanted to sit with his wife
Hapless leftie got shirty with journalists and tried to shut down queries about row with Virgin Trains
JEREMY Corbyn got angry with journalists as he faced grilling on the #traingate row as he admitted he walked past empty seats because he wanted two together so he could talk to his wife.
The Labour leader got shirty with a reporter who asked him about claims he misled people with his video claiming he was forced to sit in the corridor on a Virgin Trains service because ti was too full.
He had just given a speech on his health policy plans when Sky’s Darren McAffrey tried to probe him on his shifting story about last week’s incident.
But Mr Corbyn tried to close down the questions, repeatedly saying: “We’re discussing the NHS, can we have an NHS questions please?”
The journalist argued he was entitled to ask about it as it was a “free country”, to which Mr Corbyn replied sarcastically: "I am very well aware we live in a free country.”
He eventually relented, saying: "But, let's get to the details of it. 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.
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"That wasn't possible and so I went to the end of the train.
“The train manager, who was a very nice gentleman, came along and we had a very nice chat about the problems of overcrowding... he then very kindly did find some seats and after 42 minutes I went back through the train to the seats he had allocated."
This is a direct contradiction to Mr Corbyn’s own team, who briefed reporters last night saying; “That line about only wanting to sit with his wife is nonsense and not from us.”
It is the latest in a number of changes to the 67-year-old’s account of the three-hour journey from London to Newcastle last Wednesday.
Initially he claimed in a video shot as he travelled to Labour hustings that he was forced to sit on the floor because the Virgin East Coast service was ‘ram-packed’.
But that version of events was exploded by train boss Richard Branson, who tweeted out CCTV pictures from the train showing what appeared to plenty of empty seats.
The images showed him walking past them to sit in the vestibule, before returning to the carriage a short while later and then sitting in a stead for the rest of the trip.
He tried to explain the train incident at today’s press conference saying there were not enough seats for all of his team.