When a Jewish father met Jeremy Corbyn in the queue for a train to Glasgow this morning, there was only one question he could ask.

After a week in which the Labour leader had argued with Virgin Trains about whether or not he had a seat on a trip to Newcastle, it was near-unavoidable.

“I asked if he had a seat,” said David Rose, a retail fashion merchandiser who lives in Cockfosters, north London.

The father-of-two said that the Labour leader had laughed at the question, before answering: “Yeah - we reserved one this time.”

Mr Rose’s wife and two children were then coincidentally seated opposite Mr Corbyn on the Virgin train from Euston to Glasgow, where they were travelling to spend a few days with Mrs Rose’s parents.

“She didn’t have a bad word to say about him - she said he was very nice, talkative and friendly,” Mr Rose said.

“I told her, get Sam - who’s nine, and politically interested - to ask him questions, but he didn’t ask him anything.

“I probably would have done the same thing. It’s unfair. He’s on a train; it’s private.”

Mr Rose said that his sons had played Monopoly on the train, which Mr Corbyn was “amused at”.

“We very much disagree with most of Mr Corbyn’s views, especially his attitude to antisemitism within Labour,” he added.