Gordon Brown blasts 'deplorable' BA holiday strike

Gordon Brown called the strike 'unjustified' and 'deplorable'

Gordon Brown turned on the union that bankrolls Labour today, saying the planned strike by British Airways staff was "unjustified and deplorable".

The Prime Minister took sides in the cabin crew dispute by unambiguously condemning action by Unite, the union that has donated £11 million to Labour in four years.

"It is the wrong time, it is unjustified, it is deplorable, we shouldn't have a strike," said Mr Brown. "It's not in the company's interest, it's not in the workers' interest and it's certainly not in the national interest." Mr Brown this afternoon faced a backlash from some of the 160 Labour MPs sponsored by Unite.

The union's joint leader Tony Woodley reacted furiously, saying: "It's amazing, isn't it, how many people at interesting political times jump on bandwagons to condemn workers."

Unite is Labour's biggest paymaster and Mr Woodley and joint general secretary Derek Simpson are treated with deference by ministers. It boasts Mr Brown's former spin doctor Charlie Whelan as its "political director" and Jack Dromey, the husband of Harriet Harman, as a senior official.

A three-day strike is planned from Saturday and then a four-day stoppage from the following Saturday — the weekend before Easter.

The Prime Minister's intervention came a day after Transport Secretary Lord Adonis criticised Unite in strong terms and said BA's future could be harmed by the strikes.

Mr Brown's words, on Woman's Hour, went much further than his first reaction on Friday when he merely criticised "the disruption" to passengers rather than criticising the strike itself or the union. It also emerged that Mr Brown rang Mr Woodley over the weekend, though neither the union nor No 10 would reveal what they said.

Downing Street denied that Mr Brown had changed his tune, saying his view was exactly the same as it was before the weekend. It is rare for a Labour prime minister to get embroiled in an industrial dispute involving such a powerful union.

Unite has ordered the stoppages in a long-running row over pay, job cuts and working conditions.

BA operates 325 return flights a day, carrying more than 80,000 passengers with 70,000 of those passing through Heathrow. The airline was preparing to announce details of a reduced service. The company website said: "If a strike goes ahead we are intending to operate a range of flights. Not all of our flights will be cancelled." BA is also trying to obtain seats on flights by rival airlines to pass on to its customers.

The two sides were at loggerheads today with no sign of a deal. Willie Walsh, BA chief executive, pledged he would not allow Unite to "ruin" the company. He is understood to have drawn a line in the sand and is now prepared to take on the union.

Mr Woodley claimed that the company "wants a war". He said he saw little hope of calling off the strike. "Unless the dynamics of this very, very serious dispute change, I think it will go ahead," he said. Conservative Party chairman Eric Pickles said Labour should stop taking Unite donations until after the dispute was over.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT