Manuel Cortes: 'We must save our high-street travel shops'

From where I stand, it looks as though the government has its fingers in its ears over the plight of our travel trade, which has been so badly hit by Covid-19.

We’ve seen Hays Travel put hundreds of workers onto zero-hours contracts, while cutting hours of many more staff, and Tui announcing job cuts across its global network.

Prior to Covid, Hays had been on an upward trajectory, claiming never to have made a single worker redundant in 40 years of trading – that’s the way we want to keep it.

Therefore, with travel businesses losing money hand over fist, we need to know the plan for the future of our travel trade, which is valued by many millions of people around our country.

If the government doesn’t have a plan, I’m more than happy to work with ministers who badly need to focus, roll up their sleeves, and do everything possible to protect jobs and the wellbeing of the sector and our members.

The past 12 months have seen the collapse of both Flybe and Thomas Cook due to a lack of government action.

Thomas Cook’s demise alone cost our taxpayers more than £150 million – a needless loss of a great British company, with Boris Johnson citing "moral hazard" as overseas governments stood ready to step in.

Now, with shoppers eager to return to our high streets and desperate to book holidays despite the ongoing fiasco over air bridges and quarantine, it’s vital we learn the lessons of the recent past.

I will continue pressing the matter with the powers that be in Whitehall. The health implications of Covid-19 have been grave, but now we must leave no stone unturned in protecting the economic wellbeing of our travel trade sector and our members.

As we begin the march to a post-Covid future for all, we must save our high-street travel shops.

Manuel Cortes is general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, an independent trade union for the transport and travel trade industries.