PM urges Travelodge boss to engage with MPs

Sir Keir Starmer has written to Travelodge's chief executive urging her to "seriously engage" with the government on guest security at its hotels.

The Prime Minister said he was "very concerned" some MPs did not hear from Jo Boydell directly, adding it was "incredibly important" lessons were learned after an "utterly appalling" sexual assault at one of the chain's hotels in Maidenhead.

CEO Jo Boydell met ministers and MPs Jen Craft and Matt Bishop earlier this month but later declined the opportunity to speak to a wider group of MPs.

Travelodge said it was treating the situation with the "utmost seriousness" and had offered all interested MPs the chance to contribute to an independent review.

Kyran Smith was jailed in February for seven-and-a-half years following the attack in December 2022.

The victim later told the BBC he had been given a key card to her room after falsely claiming to be her boyfriend.

In his letter to Boydell, Starmer said although he welcomed her meetings with some MPs and ministers, he was "very concerned" that [other] MPs were not able to hear from her directly.

"I urge you to seriously engage with MPs and my Government to address the concerns that remain around best practice interventions for prevention, the training being made available and the pace of Travelodge's response," he said.

Referring to the assault, he added: "It is incredibly important that lessons are learned and action is taken to better protect guests."

Boydell apologised to the victim in a statement earlier in March, adding that the company had made changes to its door key policy.

In a statement responding to the PMs letter, she said the company was treating the situation with the "utmost seriousness".

"We have commissioned an independent review led by Paul Greaney KC... to examine our room security procedures and the lessons we can learn from how this incident was handled," she said.

"We have offered that all MPs interested in this important issue can feed into the independent review in writing so their contributions can be fully taken into account.

"Our immediate priority is to progress this important work at pace, progressing our independent review and further strengthening our processes."

The government published its Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy in December, with the aim of halving this type of violence in a decade.

In the letter, the Prime Minister said: "This is a personal mission for me: no woman or girl should feel unsafe in this country, or fear for their life.

"VAWG is a national emergency and, as such, demands that all of us take action to tackle it."