Gordon Brown wades into BA row as Lord Adonis condemns strikes as ‘totally unjustified’

By
Ray Massey and Tim Shipman
Last updated at 8:39 AM on 15th March 2010

Speaking out: Lord Adonis ‘absolutely deplores’ the BA strikesGordon Brown has personally intervened in the row between British Airways and the union which bankrolls the Labour party.After days of foot dragging by the Government, the Prime Minister is said to have telephoned the joint general secretary
of the Unite union, Tony Woodley, to discuss possible solutions.The revelation follows the forthright comments made by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis yesterday as the government became embroiled in an
extraordinary row with the country’s largest union - and one of
Labour’s biggest donors.Condemning strikes by militant British Airways crew as ‘totally unjustified’, Lord Adonis claimed they could destroy the nation’s flagship airline.Lord Adonis condemned the strikes in unequivocal terms, after pressure mounted on the Government to intervene in the dispute.The Transport Secretary warned the seven days of walkouts will ‘threaten the very existence’ of BA and inconvenience millions of passengers. It was the first time Labour had dared to publicly condemn the Unite union behind the strikes, which is the party’s biggest donor. Lord Adonis said he ‘absolutely deplored’ the strikes which he called ‘disproportionate’. He added it would damage the economy, the travelling public and ‘threaten the very jobs of their members which they’re seeking to protect’. British Airways are expected today to announce which of its flights may be cancelled because of the strike.BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh yesterday condemned the dependence of the Labour Party and No.10 on Unite. He said: ‘I am told that Derek Simpson, the joint leader of Unite has a lot of influence in Number 10. This has got to be somewhat embarrassing politically.’ Unite has given £11million to the Labour Party in the last four years and more than 60 Labour candidates standing at the General Election will be members of the union whose political director is Mr Brown’s former spin-doctor Charlie Whelan. Conflict of interest: BA chief executive Willie Walsh, left, dragged Gordon Brown into the dispute when he condemned Labour’s dependence on Unite, which has given the party £11million in the last four yearsLast night the Prime Minister was under fire from both sides. The Tories wrote to Gordon Brown urging him to ‘unequivocally condemn the strike’ and ’suspend’ Labour’s financial ties with Unite until the crisis is resolved. Conservative Chairman Eric Pickles wrote: ‘How can you talk about protecting jobs and beating the recession when you are so reliant on this increasingly militant union that is intent on bringing a British company to its knees?’ Mr Pickles said that if the Prime Minister fails to act ‘people will rightly conclude that your silence has been bought’. Shadow Chancellor George Osborne accused the Prime Minister of having a ‘two-faced approach’ to the strike, adding: ‘Gordon Brown has to stop dithering and choose who to put first: his cronies or our country.’
Disruption: Many BA flights from Heathrow will be cancelled - but passengers have the choice of being re-booked, re-routed or refundedA Downing Street source would not confirm that Mr Brown had spoken to Unite bosses but said he had already condemned the strike action as ‘unacceptable’.’The whole government is clear that we want both sides back at the table and talking.’Unite boss Derek Simpson this morning said he and Mr Woodley spoke to No.10 ‘about all kinds of issues’ and would not confirm that his colleague had spoken with the prime minister.Unite yesterday protested to Number 10 about Lord Adonis’s ‘badly informed’ comments. Privately, union officials were said to be ‘livid’ with Lord Adonis, one saying he had ‘blundered’ into the dispute without knowing all the facts.

Mr Simpson said: ‘I’d be quite upset if I thought he knew what he was talking about.’ BA will today publish an emergency timetable for passengers hit by the strikes spanning two weekends in the run up to the Easter break  -  the three days between March 20-22 and four days between March 27-30. The airline is hoping to operate seven out of ten services with volunteer flight attendants drawn from their non-cabin crew and 23 aircraft leased from other operators which come complete with crew.

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