Thomas Cook news: ‘Customers will not be left stranded’ vows Dominic Raab

Harriet Brewis @HattieBrewis22 September 2019

The foreign secretary has promised Thomas Cook customers they will not be left stranded overseas if the company collapses.

Dominic Raab said contingency planning was in place and the Government was ready to fly holidaymakers back to the UK if the tour operator falls into administration.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Raab said: "We would wait to see and hope (Thomas Cook) can continue but in any event, as you would expect, we've got the contingency planning in place to make sure that in any worst-case scenario we can support all those who might otherwise be stranded."

Mr Raab's reassurances came as the ailing travel group met shareholders and creditors on Sunday morning in last-ditch efforts to secure a bailout deal.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the Government would step in to help customers, but not the firm itself
BBC One

The 178-year-old company needs to raise £200million in extra funds within the coming hours in order to stay afloat.

If the talks fail, the Government will be forced to launch Britain’s biggest repatriation operation since World War Two, with some 165,000 holidaymakers needing to be flown back home.

But while the foreign secretary promised Brits abroad would be brought home whatever the outcome, he crushed hopes of a Government rescue deal for the company.

He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr ministers do not "systematically step in" when businesses go under unless there is "a good strategic national interest.”

Mr Raab added that he did not want to undermine the rescue talks between Thomas Cook and its creditors, which are taking place at City law firm Slaughter & May.

His pledge to customers come as dozens of holidaymakers reported being held in a Tunisia hotel over unpaid Thomas Cook bills, with one guest describing the scenes as "like a hostage situation".

Guest at Les Orangers beach resort near Tunis
@Ivana83556697/Twitter

Guests at the Les Orangers beach resort near Tunis say guards are keeping the gates shut and refusing to let guests leave, with the hotel demanding they pay extra money out of fear it won't be paid what it is owed by Thomas Cook for holiday bookings.

The company's social media channels are full of customers asking if they will be able to get home.

Founded in 1841, Thomas Cook runs hotels and resorts, airlines, cruises and hundreds of high street travel agent stores. With 21,000 staff, it operates in 16 countries and serves 19 million customers a year.

The company's demise could affect the economies of its big holiday markets Spain, Greece and Turkey, its shareholders and lending banks, and its many British high street stores.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in