No way no pay plan

What planet is British Airway's chief executive Willie Walsh from?

He is the one asking all BA staff to work for free for a month and just to show he won't ask his minions to do something he won't do himself, he's not picking up his £61,000 pay packet - or should that be pay suitcase - for July.

Now if someone were to offer me £61,000 a month I would quite happily work for free for 11 months a year, let alone one, and struggle along on £1,200 a week and I am sure that would go for the majority of BA staff.

But the fact BA management could even come up with such a scheme shows just how much the ruling classes - management, politicians, financiers and the like - are out of touch with the majority of people in this country.

A bloke on £732,000 a year, plus bonuses and exes, is hardly going to end up in the workhouse if he does not get paid for a month.

But in the real world, with real money where real people live, no salary for a month means food will be scarce and the mortgage won't get paid, nor will standing orders for gas, electricity, council tax, insurance, loans and the like - either that or the month will end with roughly a month's salary added to the overdraft.

Now if Willie and the rest of his executives and management were to offer to work for check in desk wages for a couple of years then that might make a difference or at least it might stop them coming up with hare-brained schemes.