Virgin trains are to be commended for their discretion in attempting to calm the somewhat embarrassing episode in which the Chancellor of the Exchequer failed to buy the correct ticket for his journey from Wilmslow. It is reported that Osborne's flunky attempted to negotiate with the ticket inspector but, in any case, Osborne eventually did pay up the difference between standard and first class and he was thus spared the indignity of having to move into standard and brush shoulders with the plebs.
But the fact remains that Osborne knew when he got on the train that he only had a standard ticket but nevertheless sat in first class. If paying the difference was not an issue, why not buy a first class ticket to start with? The suspicion remains therefore that he intended to get away with not paying the difference and would have done so had it not been for the diligence of the ticket inspector.
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