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A cameraman from the BBC apparently went to hospital on Tuesday night with neck and face injuries after an incident outside the front door of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s house.
Writing on Twitter, Channel 4’s political correspondent Michael Crick reported an alleged assault on journalist James Webb who was doorstepping Corbyn, adding that a Corbyn aide was believed to be behind the attack.
BBC cameraman in hospital last night with neck and face injuries after Corbyn aide allegedly assaulted him as Corbyn left his home yesterday
— Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) September 16, 2015
Cameraman in alleged incident outside Corbyn home was seen in hospital wearing neck brace & with bruise to his face — Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) September 16, 2015
Though the details of the incident are still unconfirmed, footage has emerged in which a camera pointed towards Corbyn’s door falls to the ground, with the Belfast Telegraph video claiming a “taxi driver pushed past a cameraman”, knocking the camera to the ground.
In the clip a man, presumably Webb, can seemingly be heard complaining: “You’ve smashed me camera!” And later on somebody says: “That was his taxi driver, wasn’t it? Everyday we’ve had trouble down here.”
However Jim Pickard of the Financial Times reported that Labour attributed the incident to the “government’s car service”.
Labour says that the individual in question works for the government’s car service, not for the party @MichaelLCrick — Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) September 16, 2015
Crick has claimed there has been a number of incidents like this, and such events are unlikely to help the impression that some Corbynites are a little militant in their approach to politics.
Yesterday 2nd time in 5 days where cameraman filming Corbyn leaving house has allegedly been assaulted by an aide. Earlier incident too
— Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) September 16, 2015
Update: A Department for Transport spokesman has told the Spectator: “We are investigating media reports of an incident yesterday involving a Government Car Service vehicle. We are looking at whether the driver was involved and the extent and nature of that involvement.”
Update 2: Previous Labour prime minister Gordon Brown’s spin doctor Charlie Whelan has some alternative advice on how to deal with pesky cameramen:
@MichaelLCrick I always found that the best way to deal with unwanted TV cameras was to pull the plug out of the camera!
— charlie whelan (@charliewhelan) September 16, 2015
Update 3: A spokesman from the BBC had this to say on the matter:
“The BBC can confirm there was an incident involving a BBC cameraman while filming Jeremy Corbyn leaving his home yesterday. He sustained some injuries for which he’s received treatment. The BBC has spoken to the Labour party, who has confirmed the incident involved a government driver, not a Labour party member of staff.”
More details to follow. Image Credit – Jeremy Corbyn at People’s Assembly Demo, June 2014 by David Holt
