AddThis SmartLayers

Jeremy Corbyn offers to pay for regional journalist’s rail ticket

A regional daily journalist became an internet sensation after Jeremy Corbyn offered to pay for his rail ticket.

Liverpool Echo head of politics Liam Thorp had been invited to join Mr Corbyn on a train journey as the Labour leader toured the North of England to promote his ‘Crossrail for the North’ policy on Monday.

But he accidentally purchased an invalid off-peak day return ticket, only valid on Northern Rail services for the TransPennine Express service on which Mr Corbyn was sitting.

When the ticket inspector informed Liam of his error, the Labour leader reached into his pocket and offered to make up the £2.20 difference.

The Liverpool Echo's Liam Thorp interviews Jeremy Corbyn

The Liverpool Echo’s Liam Thorp interviews Jeremy Corbyn

In a piece for the Echo about the incident, Liam wrote: “I declined the offer (of course) and paid up – but it was a kind offer from such a high-profile politician. And yes it did really happen – contrary to the many naysayers on social media, some of whom are currently suggesting that I was a Labour plant used to demonstrate the need for a policy.

“This slightly bizarre (and completely unplanned – I promise) moment, did actually provide the Labour leader with a genuine example of the complex rail system that we have.

“I had purchased a ticket from Liverpool to Manchester and because it was to be used with a particular operator at a particular time, I was required to pay extra. I admit I didn’t check the ticket – but as someone who doesn’t travel too regularly on that network, it didn’t cross my mind.

“It is the kind of situation that would be avoided under nationalisation – according to the man who was sat opposite me.”

Liam also quizzed Mr Corbyn on MP Frank Field’s resignation, Brexit and his views on the anti-semitism issues facing Labour.

He later posted about his experience on Twitter, which was shared by Mr Corby’s official account on the social networking site.

Liam, who celebrated his 30th birthday yesterday, told HTFP: “It was actually the last day of my twenties and it was definitely a memorable one. I have met Jeremy a few times and he has always been really generous with his time – but this time he was generous with his loose change as well – although in the end I was able to stump up the cash myself.

“Once he had retweeted my original tweet, everything just went bonkers – it was mainly all positive reactions, although a few people were keen to point out that I had been a ‘numpty’ for not getting the right ticket.

“While many who know me would suggest this moniker is entirely apt, I maintain that it is a convoluted system where a ticket from Manchester to Liverpool is priced differently because you are using a different operator.

“Anyway I gained a fair few hundred new followers, which is handy – although my girlfriend will be annoyed as she says I spend far too much time responding to people on twitter as it is.”

6 comments

You can follow all replies to this entry through the comments feed.
  • September 5, 2018 at 2:09 pm
    Permalink

    So many things wrong with this, (and sad to say htfp as much to blame in its reporting as the Echo. Perhaps posting a link to the coverage of the story would be useful)

    If JC said this kind of thing would not happen under nationalisation,

    “It is the kind of situation that would be avoided under nationalisation – according to the man who was sat opposite me.”

    Why is the quote in Liam’s words and not his? Surely asking a question to elicit this comment would have been better than having an independent journalist voicing a party political position, while posing (blatantly not actually interviewing) the leader of that party in the photo.

    Judging by the final par, holding the powerful to account seems less important here than racking up more social media followers – pretty much standard activity for media companies now?

    Kudos to the woman who photobombed the picture though.

    Report this comment

    Like this comment(2)
  • September 5, 2018 at 2:15 pm
    Permalink

    And another point, having just looked at the Echo’s coverage – no sense in the headline of any discussion of serios political matters, only

    ‘How Jeremy Corbyn offered to save the day after my train ticket mix up and what it tells us about our complex rail system’

    Offering £2.20 hardly saves the day, but it does leave readers to think what a nice guy JC is based on a tiny gesture to a journalist who has now given him a load of positive PR.

    Even the second story headlined ‘This is what happened when we caught a train with Jeremy Corbyn’ hardly suggests he might have been subjected to challenge by a head of politics for a prominent newspaper, or that there is even a news angle to the piece. And the website has captioned JC’s picture as Boris Johnson.

    Poor all round.

    Report this comment

    Like this comment(2)
  • September 5, 2018 at 4:51 pm
    Permalink

    Well this is a trivial piece, perhaps more could have been done with it. I would have liked to know the purpose of the journey in more detail and less about the journalists social media aspirations.

    Report this comment

    Like this comment(0)
  • September 5, 2018 at 7:15 pm
    Permalink

    If the piece had just been about the journey and the politics, you wouldn’t have read or even heard about it, Lydia (assuming you don’t live in or near Liverpool).

    Which angle would be better to promote awareness and discussion of the country’s rail problems?

    Report this comment

    Like this comment(0)
  • September 6, 2018 at 9:25 am
    Permalink

    Liam tells us he managed to ‘stump up’ the money himself… All £2.20!
    Wow, they must be paying him too much if he can root into his pocket and pull out that kind of money.
    He really saved the day by his dazzling coppering up. Well done, sir!

    Report this comment

    Like this comment(0)
  • September 6, 2018 at 9:40 am
    Permalink

    I can see that this would have achieved JC’s aims, being publicity for his cause. But as a reader of HTFP I would have liked a little more background in addition. Just a paragraph perhaps?

    Report this comment

    Like this comment(0)