British Airways

Some old Tory card stood up at Prime Minister's Questions a while back and asked 'Why are there always so many strikes at the fag end of a Labour Government?' Sir Bufton has a point: there is a new militancy in the air, union athletes training up for the big meeting, the change of government.

We have forgotten what strikes are like. In the seventies you felt that nothing worked, that there was nothing you could rely on. It was shame as much as annoyance that you felt. Here is Jeremy Clarkson's take on the BA strike, from the Times

I like Virgin. And I flew Singapore Airlines recently, which was out of this world. But there is nothing quite so joyous as leaving the hustle and bustle of a superheated Third World hellhole and being greeted on the big BA jumbo by a homosexual with a cold flannel and a refreshing glass of champagne. Take that away from us and we may as well all be Belgian.

Agreed. And I have to say that if I were unfortunate enough to be in a plane which crashed into the sea it is British Airways cabin crew I would like looking after me. They exude competence. In my experience they are the best.

They are also the best paid. So I can't quite see what the strike is about and, frankly, I am bored with trying. There are, when all is said and done, other airlines.

I don't want this on the news every ten minutes, thuggish union reps and that weaselly little man with the Irish accent. Can we have corrupt politicians, dying whales, rising sea levels, whatever, instead?