Cameron urges support for BA strike-breakers

He provoked uproar among Labour MPs in the Commons when he repeatedly urged Prime Minister Gordon Brown to back "brave workers" who wanted to cross picket lines.

Mr Cameron sneered that Mr Brown had shown no "backbone."

"Do you back people who want to go to work? Yes or No?" roared the union-baiting Tory leader.

Mr Brown retorted that "the same old Tories" were "trying to turn an industrial relations dispute into a political football."

He accused Mr Cameron of trying to "provoke" the dispute instead of resolve it.

Appealing for a negotiated settlement, Mr Brown said that he had recently talked to both cabin crew union Unite and BA management.

He voiced the hope that the outline agreement which was near to being reached last week could lead to a settlement this week.

Mr Cameron chided Mr Brown about his earlier claim that it was the "wrong time" for a strike at BA.

Showing his fundamental hostility to trade union rights, the Tory leader demanded to know when there would ever be a "right time" for a strike at BA.

"It is back to the 1970s," he moaned. "We have got handwringing from a weak Prime Minister while companies go down."

Mr Cameron alleged that Mr Brown was reluctant to intervene in the dispute because of the Labour Party's financial links with Unite.

He sneered that the party was "a wholly-owned subsidiary of the union," adding: "They pick the candidates, they choose the policies, they elect the leader and they have special access to Downing Street."