Empty Thomas Cook check-in desk in Gatwick Airport, England Monday, Sept. 23, 2019. (Photo: AP)

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says a “huge effort” is underway to bring home British tourists and passengers stranded by the sudden financial collapse of travel company Thomas Cook.

He adds Monday that steps needed to be taken so “you don’t end up with a situation where the taxpayer, where the state is having to step in and bring people home.”

Johnson asks “whether it’s right that the directors and the board should pay themselves large sums when a company can go down the tubes like that.”

He says tour companies must properly insure themselves against this kind of eventuality.

Johnson spoke at the UK consul-general's residence in New York as he attended the UN General Assembly.