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bobm
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« on: October 19, 2012, 18:37:54 » |
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..now George Osborne hits the headlines for travelling in Virgin First Class with a Standard class ticket. You couldn't make it up! From the BBC» .George Osborne has been forced to pay for an upgrade after sitting in a first class train carriage with a standard class ticket.
An aide to Mr Osborne initially refused to pay the ^160 supplement and said the chancellor did not want to move into standard class, Virgin Trains said.
(more in the link.) |
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Electric train
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« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2012, 21:08:42 » |
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..now George Osborne hits the headlines for travelling in Virgin First Class with a Standard class ticket. You couldn't make it up! From the BBC» .George Osborne has been forced to pay for an upgrade after sitting in a first class train carriage with a standard class ticket.
An aide to Mr Osborne initially refused to pay the ^160 supplement and said the chancellor did not want to move into standard class, Virgin Trains said.
(more in the link.) As much as I dislike this Chancellor this is non story this and is being hyped up out of proportion, the TM‡ was approached by the PA▸ and excess fare was paid without dispute. |
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Starship just experienced what we call a rapid unscheduled disassembly, or a RUD, during ascent,”
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paul7575
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« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2012, 10:43:43 » |
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As much as I dislike this Chancellor this is non story this and is being hyped up out of proportion, the TM‡ was approached by the PA▸ and excess fare was paid without dispute.
Agree entirely. As amended by the BBC» last night , Virgin are being quoted as saying there was NO dispute at all: "The situation was dealt with amicably between the train manager and George Osborne's aide.
"At no time was there a disagreement or a refusal to pay for the upgrade. Nor was there any discussion between the train manager and Mr Osborne." A case of the ITV journalist reporting what she hoped had happened? Paul |
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Timmer
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« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2012, 11:00:33 » |
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I'm all for the use of social media in helping report the news but when you get a situation like this it just gives journalism a bad name.
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broadgage
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« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2012, 11:46:55 » |
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I'm all for the use of social media in helping report the news but when you get a situation like this it just gives journalism a bad name.
Agree, not news |
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A proper intercity train has a minimum of 8 coaches, gangwayed throughout, with first at one end, and a full sized buffet car between first and standard.
It has space for cycles, surfboards,luggage etc.
A 5 car DMU▸ is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.
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RichardB
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« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2012, 12:21:47 » |
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The reporter who tweeted the story was sitting a coach away in Standard class. She overheard George Osborne's PA▸ approach the train manager in that coach and ask if it was OK for her and GO to sit in First with a Standard class ticket.
Train manager rightly said no, the aide seems to have tried again and when the TM‡ continued to say no, the aide paid the extra fare.
That's a story to me. Any prominent politician in any party should expect to be splashed all over the papers if they try something like this. Evidently GO had done this before (back in May). I wonder how many times TMs have said yes.
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JayMac
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« Reply #6 on: October 20, 2012, 14:18:38 » |
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With both a Treasury spokesperson and Virgin Trains saying essentially the same thing regarding this 'incident', in that there was no disagreement and the paying of upgrades was dealt with amicably, then this is indeed a non-story. I fear the tweets from the ITV journo were making a mountain out of a molehill.
Politician's are fair game when they, or their aides, make mistakes or try to use their position to garner favour, but this doesn't appear to be what happened here.
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"A clear conscience laughs at a false accusation."
"Treat everyone the same until you find out they're an idiot."
"Moral indignation is a technique used to endow the idiot with dignity."
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RichardB
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« Reply #7 on: October 20, 2012, 18:18:43 » |
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The Treasury weren't going to admit that the aide effectvely asked for a free upgrade and why would VT▸ rock the boat either, given when the free upgrade idea was dismissed, the aide paid up.
I think the journo who tweeted this was just amazed that the aide had tried it on.
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Electric train
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« Reply #8 on: October 20, 2012, 18:44:42 » |
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The Treasury weren't going to admit that the aide effectvely asked for a free upgrade and why would VT▸ rock the boat either, given when the free upgrade idea was dismissed, the aide paid up.
I think the journo who tweeted this was just amazed that the aide had tried it on.
I think he was travailing on Constituency business and not Government business which means the Treasury cannot comment, not they were likely to say very much anyway. If he was travelling on Government business then you and me foot the bill, if it was Constituency or Party HQ▸ business then you and me don't foot the bill. |
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Starship just experienced what we call a rapid unscheduled disassembly, or a RUD, during ascent,”
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TonyK
Global Moderator
Hero Member
Posts: 6594
The artist formerly known as Four Track, Now!
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« Reply #9 on: October 20, 2012, 18:55:10 » |
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Nothing I have heard about this makes me think that anything happened other than George Osborne, having missed his earlier train with his standard class reservation, found himself without a seat on a crowded train, and paid the extra to sit in first. I have also heard a rumour that this all happened in May, making the fuss even more irrelevant. It astonishes me that the Chancellor, or any other senior politico, has to travel standard class, with the attendant risk of someone spotting something sensitive on his laptop if he tries to do some work, rather than reading the paper and gazing out of the window (like I do).
So the Chancellor, and the Prime Minister, should resign, now, and take that deputy PM with them. I'm not a fan.
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Now, please!
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EBrown
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« Reply #10 on: October 20, 2012, 21:13:23 » |
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*Hopes he does it on FC‡ and gets referred for prosecution*
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I am no longer an active member of this website.
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Temple Meads
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« Reply #11 on: October 20, 2012, 22:51:59 » |
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With both a Treasury spokesperson and Virgin Trains saying essentially the same thing
It's not as if Virgin need to remain on good terms with the government at the moment though is it?  |
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Passenger and Enthusiast
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TonyK
Global Moderator
Hero Member
Posts: 6594
The artist formerly known as Four Track, Now!
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« Reply #12 on: October 21, 2012, 17:20:57 » |
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With both a Treasury spokesperson and Virgin Trains saying essentially the same thing
It's not as if Virgin need to remain on good terms with the government at the moment though is it?  |
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Now, please!
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TerminalJunkie
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« Reply #13 on: October 22, 2012, 10:33:55 » |
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I have seen it posited that Andrew 'Pleb' Mitchell resigned to deflect some of the attention from this story. I rather suspect that isn't true, but I was somewhat tickled to discover that Mitchell's replacement as Tory Chief Whip made a rather - as it happens - unfortunate appearance on this old BR▸ leaflet: http://www.sirgeorgeyoung.org.uk/pages/images/ACF7232.jpg |
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