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British Airways Strike

I am disappointed that British Airways and the Unite union are behaving like two badly behaved children and seem to be paying little attention to the needs of their passengers; macho management from BA and intransigence from the union help nobody. May I ask the Minister in particular what steps he has been taking since November, when the dispute first appeared imminent, to try to stop it occurring? Clearly, the strike has had a long period of notice. We could legitimately expect the Government to have taken action to try to prevent our reaching the stage that we have got to now. Without any clear indication of what action has been taken, the Minister will understand why some feel that there has been some influence from the trade unions. May I ask the Minister about compensation for passengers who are not able to get their flights but will nevertheless be significantly out of pocket-through holiday tours that they have booked, for example? Will there be any compensation for them, from the airline or elsewhere? Does the Minister believe that when they voted for industrial action, the union's members understood that they were voting for seven days or more of such action, or did they think, as many appear to have done, that it was a one-day strike? Lastly, what further steps does the Minister intend to take now to knock heads together? Would it not be sensible for the BA offer to be retabled now-if necessary, at the same time as Unite withdraws its strike action, as it ought to do immediately?