A Sky News cameraman has a top role in the new blockbuster political book everyone in Westminster is talking about.
The book is the highly acclaimed “Get In, The Inside Story of Labour Under Starmer”, by journalists Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund.
And though he’s not named, it tells of the key role of Sky News lens legend Aaron Scott in Jeremy Corbyn being informed of his suspension from the Labour Party in 2020.
Describing Mr Corbyn‘s suspension, in October 2020, the authors write: “He learned of his exile not from the personal email inbox he rarely examined but a cameraman from Sky News.”
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Explaining what happened, New Zealand-born Aaron said: “We were to film a pool interview – for Sky News, BBC and ITV – with Jeremy Corbyn at a suburban community centre a few days before Halloween.
“The interview was very cordial and everything went smoothly. His part of this shoot done, the reporter Joe Pike was called back to the office to work on other political issues of the day.
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“It didn’t take long for the news editor at Sky News’ Westminster office to call.
“‘Is Jeremy still in the building?’ ‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘He’s not left yet.’
“DON’T let him leave! He’s been suspended by the Labour Party!
“He was in the foyer, gathering his things and was about to head for the door.
“‘Excuse me, Mr Corbyn – I don’t know if you’ve heard what’s happened.’ ‘No?,’ he replied, quizzically. I’m the first to break it to him.
“‘Well, I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this – but apparently, you’ve been suspended from the Labour Party.’
“At that moment, he looked as if the world had been taken out from under his feet…
“‘WHAT?!?’
“At this point, his aides came over – alerted by the outburst and the expression on his face, in that it had dropped a mile and turned rather pale.
“I repeated the news I’d just delivered. What followed from his team was a furious rifling through news feeds, social media accounts and emails – and a lot of expletives.
“‘Would you be prepared to give us a statement?,’ I interjected. Mr Corbyn was obviously still quite shocked by the news. And by this time, his team had flown into damage control mode.
“As he’d not seen the ruling, he didn’t want to comment until he’d read it.
‘I completely understand,’ I said calmly. ‘Look – I’m not going anywhere, and Joe will be back shortly. We’ll wait right here. Why don’t you all go round the corner for a coffee, work out what you’d like to say, and then come back to us and we’ll record a statement from you?’
“They all agreed. With that, they thanked me and made a hasty exit.”
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Aaron continued: “Joe came back around 20 minutes later. ‘Where is he?’
“‘I sent him for a coffee.’
“‘WHAT?!?’ It was the second time that day I’d had that response.
“I explained what had transpired and the outcome in full to Joe. With that, he immediately gave Mr Corbyn’s aides a call to confirm that a follow-up interview would take place, to which they confirmed.
“True to his word, Mr Corbyn came back a few hours later, and we filmed his response to the suspension.”
Aaron’s place in Labour Party history had been secured. And now it has been recorded for posterity in a best-selling political book.
