Tunisia, and European Council

Neil Gray Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend asks an entirely fair question. I can assure him that at the Cobra meetings that is one of the most important issues we focus on: what more can be done; are more resources needed; are more people needed? My understanding is that we have police officers, victim identification experts and consular officials on the ground, working hand in glove with the Tunisians. We are going as fast as we can to get that vital work done.

[Neil Gray (Airdrie and Shotts) (SNP)]

A family from Airdrie who were desperate to get home from Sousse were told by their airline, Thomas Cook, that it would cost them £800 per person to get home early as they had booked through Teletext. The chief executive of Thomas Cook confirmed to me last night that they would get home free of charge, and they arrived home this afternoon after much stress. What advice can the Prime Minister offer to those still trying to get home without sufficient access to holiday reps, or indeed to FCO staff, as in this case?

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his question, because I think that it tells a real story, which is that sometimes there is confusion and a lack of clarity to begin with, but then there is a good and clear answer, as with that family who returned home. My advice to anyone in that situation is to talk to their travel company first, but they can also ring the Foreign Office line and get assistance. The Foreign Office immediately looks into any case it sees coming up in the media or on social media to see whether it can help directly, and it will continue to do so.