To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have taken or are considering any urgent action to avert the proposed strike by British Airways cabin crews or its impact on travellers.

My Lords, passengers will be seriously inconvenienced if a strike goes ahead. The Prime Minister and I have urged the union to call off the strike and urged both sides to seek to reach an agreement. We continue to do so. However, British Airways is a private company and the resolution of the dispute is a matter for the company and its staff. The Government have no powers to impose a settlement.

My Lords, I thank the Secretary of State for that reply. While we welcome his words and those today of the Prime Minister in roundly condemning Unite’s action, we want to know what else can be done to prevent the lives of millions of passengers being badly affected. Is not the real problem over this and the Government’s ability to handle it that the Government have turned a blind eye for months to the growing crisis because the Labour Party has been funded by Unite to the tune of more than £11 million since the Prime Minister became leader, and Mr Charlie Whelan—one of the so-called forces of hell identified by the Chancellor of the Exchequer—is political director of Unite and up to his elbows in Labour’s general election campaign? Will the Labour Party now stop taking donations from that trade union? Are the Government hampered in taking any action because of these donations?

My Lords, the noble Baroness’s remarks were well below the level of events. This is an industrial dispute; it is not a political dispute. I deeply regret the attempt by the Conservative Party to politicise the dispute, which will make it so much more difficult for it to be solved in the way we all wish it to be. The Prime Minister’s statement this morning could not have been firmer. My statement yesterday could not have been firmer. We wish to see this dispute resolved by negotiations, not by strike action. I continue to call on the union to lift the threat of the strike and get back to the negotiating table.

In respect of arrangements made for passengers who stand to be severely inconvenienced, British Airways has put out a statement setting out how it intends to handle flights if the strike goes ahead. The statement on its website at the moment says:

“We plan to operate all British Airways’ flights from London City airport, including long-haul services to New York. From Gatwick, we plan to operate all long-haul services and about 50 per cent of short-haul. From Heathrow, we plan to operate a substantial part of our long-haul and short-haul schedule … We are also in the process of obtaining seats on flights operated by other carriers to enable thousands of customers to fly to their chosen destinations”.

BA will give further details later today or tomorrow about precisely which flights will operate and which ones will not. BA is clearly therefore doing all it can to get early information to passengers. In this House, we should do all we can to urge both sides to reach a settlement so the strike does not take place.

My Lords, I thank the Secretary of State. We support the statement he made over the weekend which has been endorsed by his right honourable friend the Prime Minister today. Reports in the press indicate that the RMT union is planning serious disruption on the railways at Easter. This sort of action both in British Airways and on the railway is an attempt to blackmail employers, using the travelling public as a weapon. I know the difficulties which exist with private companies but I want the Secretary of State to exert every effort possible to ensure that disputes such as these are dealt with through arbitration rather than through the unacceptable measures that the unions are taking. These are not down-trodden and exploited workers. Many of them are among the better paid people. I really think that they and their unions have a duty to provide the public with the service they pay for.

My Lords, I entirely agree with the noble Lord that passengers should not be held to ransom in seeking to resolve industrial disputes. That applies to the railways as much as to the airlines.

My Lords, I speak as the president of BALPA. Does my noble friend agree that the Government should use their influence on both sides so that they abandon their preconceived views, which are not helpful? It is imperative that they engage urgently in talks designed to resolve this absolutely stupid dispute.

My Lords, I entirely agree with my noble friend on the importance of both sides talking. They were close to a settlement last Thursday. If they could return to the negotiating table it might well be possible to avert this strike. I urge them to do so immediately.

My Lords, I declare an interest as a past chairman of the Air Transport Users Council. What part has the present Air Transport Users Council played in this strike?

My Lords, it has been urging that flights should continue. I am not sure that it has any locus to help bring the sides together or enable them to reach an agreement but I know it has spoken up strongly on behalf of the interests of passengers.

My Lords, can the Minister explain what the Unite union is doing in its dispute with British Airways that is inconsistent with its overall responsibilities as a trade union and duties to its members?

My Lords, the question is whether it is possible to reach a settlement which meets the concerns of the unions without needing strike action. The two sides came very close indeed to such a settlement last Thursday. If they return to the negotiating table there is every reason to believe that it would be possible for them to reach a settlement which meets the interests of the members of the union without requiring strike action and the massive inconvenience and disruption that will be caused to the travelling public.

My Lords, my noble friend has made his position and that of the Government perfectly clear as regards their attitude towards the union. Do the Government feel that British Airways should now retable the proposals it tabled last week and withdrew? I may be wrong but I understand that those proposals got within a whisker of being agreed by both sides. Should we not therefore be pushing British Airways, as well as the union, to do something?

My Lords, if both sides come together for negotiations, I am sure that the offer that was on the table last Thursday will be one of the matters that they wish to discuss. However, they need to get round the table and start negotiating seriously before that is possible.

My Lords, does not the fact that Unite is such a major donor to the Labour Party, which is very significant in the run-up to the imminent election, make it very difficult for the Government to condemn the trade union in the way that perhaps they should?

My Lords, if I may say so, that is a ridiculous question. It is equivalent to saying that, because some noble Lords opposite give very large sums of money to the Conservative Party, the Conservative Party should not be regarded as a legitimate force in this House. There is a proper system in place for party funding; everything is done within the law; and, as I said, this is an industrial, not a political, dispute.

My Lords, is it not better that the parties be allowed to settle their dispute in the proper way? The TUC has already been involved, as is perfectly proper, but surely it does not help if the dispute becomes involved in party politics. As the Prime Minister did this morning, we should be urging the parties to get together to have realistic negotiations, leading, it is to be hoped, to the resolution of a very difficult problem.

My Lords, that is precisely what the Prime Minister and I are urging both sides to do.