A BBC cameraman has been treated in hospital after he was allegedly pushed over by Jeremy Corbyn’s driver.
James Webb was filming Corbyn, who was elected Labour leader on Saturday, as he left his north London home on Tuesday when the incident occurred, reportedly leaving him with face and neck injuries.
An image emerged on social media showing Webb in hospital, lying on a stretcher with a head and neck brace.
Picture of BBC cameraman James Webb in neck-brace on stretcher in hospital overnight after hurt outside Corbyn home pic.twitter.com/saSSg0DhFE
— Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) September 16, 2015
Footage filmed by Webb has emerged showing the tumble from the cameraman’s perspective. Corbyn is seen being embraced by a wellwisher before the camera shot spirals and rests on its side on the road.
Webb can be heard swearing and shouting “you smashed my camera” and “that was a real shove” before Corbyn is promptly driven away.
The cameraman, who was discharged from hospital, was angered by the incident but the broadcaster is yet to decide whether it will report it to the police, a BBC source told the Guardian.
WATCH: #Corbyn not having great luck with cameras at the moment. pic.twitter.com/fK5iysQVJM
— Darren McCaffrey (@DMcCaffreySKY) September 15, 2015
Jeremy Selwyn, a London Evening Standard photographer, witnessed the incident and said the driver was “unprovoked” when he pushed Webb.
“The BBC camerman was pushed from behind by the driver of the vehicle. I don’t know why the driver did it. The camera was slammed into his face and his head was smashed by his camera – it must have hurt. It was unprovoked. There was no jostling around by the photographers.
“I’ve been taking photos of politicians for the Evening Standard for 30 years. If it was a pop star leaving his home I would have expected that from their team – but I wouldn’t expect that from a politician’s team. I don’t understand why it happened.”
The Labour party said the incident involved an employee of the government car service (GCS) and referred any queries to the Department of Transport (DfT).
A DfT spokesperson said: “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.”
GCS operates a fleet of about 90 cars and provides a “high-quality, secure car service” for ministers and other senior officials, according to information on the DfT website.
Webb declined to comment when approached by the Guardian.
A statement from the BBC said: “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.”
