IF Mike Taylor had only been wearing the correct rose-tinted spectacles that he wears when reading Boris Johnson’s promises, he might have noticed that I actually stated Brexit was just one factor in the collapse of Thomas Cook, not the sole reason. (HAS, Oct 4).
Brexit has resulted in the devaluation of the pound, airlines buy their fuel in dollars and pay for their European hotels in Euros, consequently their overheads have risen dramatically. Unless companies can quickly cut their costs or pass them on to their customers they will hit the rocks.
Unfortunately, Thomas Cook’s management did not adapt quickly enough to overall trends and changing financial circumstances.
The main point I was making in my comments was that the UK government could have chosen to give Thomas Cook a temporary loan to cover the £200 million being demanded by the company’s bankers which would have enabled it to use all those planes sitting on the ground to bring its customers home and give it a chance to scale back future operations.
The German government did that for Cook’s German subsidiary, Condor.
Instead our government is passing on at least £160 million in repatriation and related
costs to British taxpayers, while making thousands of people jobless.
Stephen Warren, Durham
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