Thomas Cook

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Wednesday 25th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[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.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

I begin by welcoming the tremendous efforts of the Civil Aviation Authority, staff across Government and others to repatriate and support the many thousands of stranded holiday- makers, but I ask the Secretary of State to provide clarity on two points in relation to his previous answers. Can he confirm that all Thomas Cook staff will be helped to return home? He referred to some of them, which I do not understand. Why not all of them?

In the four and a half months since the airline insolvency review reported, what action have the Government taken to implement its recommendations?

[Grant Shapps]

First, with regard to the repatriation of staff, it is not the case that all the staff necessarily want to come straight back. Aircrew, for example, have been or are being repatriated, but many others are still assisting with the operation on the ground in many different locations, and we are hugely grateful to them.

The next two weeks are critical. The largest group of people, the 150,000 holidaymakers, is so large that there is no way to get them back other than chartering aircraft to fly them back. The number of other people involved is of a size at which commercial flights can be used to return them.

We are urgently addressing not only the cabin crew and that side of things but the other employees and the scheduling for when they need to get back. I have been clear with the CAA that it should offer them every possible assistance along the way.

Sorry, I have forgotten the hon. Lady’s second question.

[Lilian Greenwood]

If they are important, what have you been doing in the past few months?

[Grant Shapps]

I did not come into this job until 23 July. Some recommendations of the airline insolvency review have already been taken into account and, indeed, used in this particular case, but we also require primary legislation and I am happy to have cross-party discussions about that.

It is not, as one might imagine, quite as simple as it seems. There are ideas around, including allowing what happens in Germany, where the airline is run in administration, and, separately, the interaction between ATOL and a proposed additional charge per flight of perhaps 50p or so for every flight taken, regardless of whether it is to a holiday destination. There are different ideas to be worked through; discussions are ongoing and I am keen to accelerate them.