Sir Keir Starmer concerned over Travelodge boss cancelling meeting with MPs
The hotel chain is under fire after a guest was sexually assaulted by a man who had been given a key card to her room.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “very concerned” to hear a meeting with MPs was cancelled by the chief executive of Travelodge.
The hotel chain is under fire after a guest was sexually assaulted by a man who had been given a key card to her room.
Kyran Smith was jailed in February for seven-and-a-half years following the attack at a Travelodge in Maidenhead, Berkshire, in December 2022.
Chief executive Jo Boydell apologised to the victim in a statement on Sunday, adding the company has made “immediate changes” to its door key policy.
She was due to meet with MPs but this has since been cancelled, the Commons heard.
Labour’s Matt Bishop raised the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions, to which Sir Keir said the meeting “needs to go ahead”.
Mr Bishop, MP for Forest of Dean, said: “The CEO of Travelodge has today, again, refused to attend a meeting with wider members of this House and the other place to answer serious concerns about guest safety and safeguarding.
“This refusal only deepens the lack of trust in the company’s commitment to protecting women and vulnerable guests.
“Will the Prime Minister meet with me and invite the CEO of Travelodge to discuss the issue, and will he join me in urging the CEO to explain directly to all parliamentarians why she is unwilling to face scrutiny on such an important matter?”
The Prime Minister replied: “Our thoughts are obviously with the victim.
“I was very concerned to hear that the CEO of Travelodge cancelled the meeting with MPs, and I would urge them to reconsider. That meeting needs to go ahead with relevant MPs and with the relevant minister, and the sooner it goes ahead, the better.
“I hope that the CEO of Travelodge is listening to this exchange. I thank him for raising it.”
Smith, from Staines, Surrey, had lied to reception staff, telling them he was the victim’s boyfriend.
He had been at the same party as the woman before they and others retired to their rooms.
The woman said staff told her Smith had passed their security checks by providing her name.
