Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the actions of financial and other advisers to Thomas Cook Group in seeking the payment of fees before the Group collapsed; what plans they have, if any, to launch an investigation into such actions; and whether such an investigation will examine whether these actions constituted an act of fraudulent preference to the disadvantage of UK taxpayers.

The Business Secretary has written to the Insolvency Service to ask them to prioritize and fast-track their investigation into the circumstances surrounding Thomas Cook going into liquidation.

Under the Insolvency Act 1986, the Official Receiver as liquidator may seek to overturn a range of transactions made prior to the liquidation, for example where preference payments have been made to a creditor/s or where a transaction is to the detriment of creditors.