We live in strange times. UK holidaymakers were left stranded by holiday company Thomas Cook and the government rushed to organise planes to bring them home (Ministers ‘scuppered Thomas Cook deal’, 24 September). UK citizens were left traumatised in adverse conditions having survived hurricane Irma and the government left them struggling to make their own ways home.
Polly Bird
Bedlington, Northumberland
• Thomas Cook passengers won’t be out of pocket due to the EU package directive which protects EU holidaymakers for cancellation, liability, repatriation, and refunds. Why hasn’t this been mentioned in the media? Perhaps because it is another benefit of the EU that Johnson and his cronies want to keep quiet about so they can get all the brownie (and electioneering) points themselves?
Richard Eagles
Lochfoot, Dumfries
• When the Royal Bank of Scotland experienced financial meltdown during the 2007-8 financial crisis Gordon Brown came to the rescue with £46bn government support, claiming that RBS was too big to fail. It’s ironic that this bank requested its customer, Thomas Cook, to seek £200m to avoid administration and is now responsible for its demise, along with those who ran the travel company and the government. Another old established company bites the dust.
Tom Jackson
Stockport, Greater Manchester
• So the stock market casino adds to the woes of Thomas Cook. Hedge funds are so powerful they can actually manipulate share prices in their favour to destroy companies and make a financial gain. All these shorting, derivatives and credit default swaps caused the financial crash yet governments do little to stem these activities. If they cannot ban them at least make them pay extra taxes as these gains are pure speculation and have nothing to do with the economy. They remain financial weapons of mass destruction.
Peter Fieldman
Florence, Italy
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