MPs support calls for Minister for Travel
MPs have tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons calling for the appointment of a Minister for Travel.
So far it has been signed by six MPs.
The motion says the travel trade is ‘a crucial sector of the British economy’ which is ‘facing an existential threat as a result of the coronavirus pandemic’.
It points out that many travel businesses have closed, saying there are’many more on the brink of collapse due to the Covid-19 crisis with at least 90,000 jobs already lost or at risk across high street travel agents and the wider travel trade sector’.
It welcomed the recent call by the TSSA transport and travel union and others for the creation of a Minister for Travel to ‘champion’ the industry.
It also called on the government to provide bespoke sector-specific government support and reconsider an extension of furlough for the industry.
The MPs to have signed the motion are Russell-Moyle of Brighton, Kemptown, Rachel Hopkins of Luton South, Ian Lavery of Wansbeck and John McDonnell of Hayes and Harlingon, who are all labour. It was also signed by independent MP Claudia Webbe of Leicester East and DUP MP Jim Shannon of Strangford.
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