Starmer tells Travelodge boss to engage with MPs over sexual assault case

Keir Starmer has written to the chief executive of Travelodge to press the hotel chain to “seriously engage” with MPs raising concerns about its protocols after a woman was sexually assaulted by a man who was given her room number and a keycard by staff.MPs who had sought an urgent meeting with Jo Boydell said the case of Kyran Smith, 29, who was jailed for seven and a half years last month, raised “deeply concerning” questions. He attacked the woman after a party in December 2022.Smith had falsely told reception staff at the Maidenhead branch of Travelodge that he was the victim’s boyfriend, and they gave him the woman’s room number and a keycard. He was jailed in February for sexual assault and trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence.In a letter to Boydell on Thursday, the prime minister said he was “very concerned” that some 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,” Starmer said in the letter, which was released by Downing Street.More than 20 MPs had demanded the meeting this month to discuss the case, including the chain’s security processes and procedures that led to it offering the victim an “insulting” £30 refund after the incident.Starmer welcomed Travelodge’s decision to launch an independent investigation into its room security policies. He noted that immediate changes were being implemented regarding room access, but added: “This review should proceed at pace, with a confirmed timeline and a commitment to deliver the outcomes, so early findings can be acted upon immediately.”Welcoming the company’s recent meeting with several MPs, including the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls and the minister for victims and tackling violence against women and girls, he told Boydell: “Tackling violence against women and girls requires a whole-of-society response that ensures victims are front and centre. I hope Travelodge will play its part.”He said at the outset of the letter that he viewed tackling violence against women and girls as a “personal mission”.Travelodge said it would respond to the prime minister.Boydell said in a statement earlier this month that the company had made some immediate changes to its room-access security policy and had commissioned an independent review that would be led by Paul Greaney KC, a barrister specialising in public inquiries concerning security, serious violent crime, and health and safety.Boydell said the company would also appoint a leading expert on violence against women and girls to work on the review and had invited MPs to contribute to the review in writing.