There have been two big political events over the last seven days, with Theresa May announcing her imminent resignation as leader of the Conservative Party (7 June), and the European Parliamentary elections. 
 
Brexit has been a dominating factor in both of these developments. In recent days prospective Conservative Party leaders have begun to lay out their stalls on how they will deal with Brexit. Theresa May will remain as Prime Minister until a new leader has been selected, which will likely be ahead of the summer recess in July.
 
ABTA’s briefing on the outcome of the European Parliament elections highlights that they have resulted in a more fragmented political environment within the Parliament, and gives some context on what this could mean for the future. The briefing is available in the Member Zone.
 
There was much discussion at ABTA’s Travel Law seminar last week about the political possibilities around Brexit, and what they might mean for travellers and travel businesses. While it is too early to tell what will happen when a new Prime Minister is in place, recent pronouncements have shown that it is important travel companies continue to contingency plan for the possibility of a no-deal Brexit on 31 October 2019. 
 
But travellers also need to know that they can continue to travel over the summer period exactly as they do now, and ABTA Members may find it helpful to direct customers to ABTA’s online advice on what Brexit means for travel – abta.com/Brexit.

Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive