An MP has been urged to encourage Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to raise the plight of the travel industry at Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament.
The call came from Sunvil managing director Chris Wright after he received a detailed response from Tan Dhesi, Labour MP for Slough and shadow railways minister, to industry lobbying for sector support.
In a letter to Wright, Dhesi pledged to continue pressing the government on the issue to make sure the travel sector is “no longer in the dark”.
The MP, who has been calling in Parliament for a sector-specific deal for the aviation industry, wrote: “While the government must ensure consumer rights are protected, it also needs to strengthen support for the travel industry during this difficult time.
“I appreciate that where travel operators have already paid out funds for holidays, some flexibility may be necessary to allow for business liquidity.
“Refunds must be offered to those that want them as opposed to credit notes, but the responsibility is on the government to protect the industry form insolvency moving forward.”
Dhesi also said it was important for a full review to be carried out, not just of 14-day quarantine restrictions, but “also to ensure that a proper test and tracking system is in place”.
The MP agreed that the job retention scheme announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak last month does not go far enough in protecting jobs in the travel industry, “helping workers who are unable to return to work to some extent when many jobs in the travel industry are still at a complete standstill”.
Thanking Dhesi for the “comprehensive response from an MP that understands our situation”, Wright tweeted that perhaps he could get the Labour leader to raise the issue at PMQs this week.