Thomas Cook

Debate between Grant Shapps and Robert Halfon

Wednesday 25th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for what he is doing, but my constituents have lost their jobs. The directors go back to their £1 million-plus houses, having taken £47 million in bonuses and wages over the past few years. My constituents worry about their jobs and their pensions. Should we not be seizing the assets of the directors who plundered this company and took it to ruin? Will he guarantee that my constituents’ pensions will be protected?

[Grant Shapps]

I understand my right hon. Friend’s concern, and I congratulate him on his work over the past few days with his constituents who have lost their jobs.

We have touched on this before, and there have been a lot of reports in the newspapers, but it is important to allow the correct channel, the official receiver, to do its job. I stress to the House that, under the Insolvency Act 1986, the official receiver, as liquidator, may seek to overturn a range of transactions made prior to the liquidation, which includes things like bonuses, although I think we need to leave it to due process to see whether that would be appropriate.

There is also the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, and I fully support that idea. As I said in answer to a previous question, the Government were concerned to ensure that we did not prop up an organisation that was already doing things wrong.