±«Óãtv

British Airways is to review its uniform policy, which prohibited religious symbols (such as a cross) being worn by staff on duty. And one can understand why they have decided to go back to the drawing board on this one. Following the Archbishop of York's very public objections this week, the Archbishop of Canterbury, on a visit to Rome to meet Pope Benedict (he flew with BA), made it clear that the Church of England was now considering the sale of its £10m BA shares. That, in itself, wouldn't represent a massive commercial problem for BA, but there were other calls for a Christian boycott of the company. This entire episode has turned into a public relations disaster for the company; and the potential loss of the public's trust could clearly have servious commercial implications.

I've already noted that the Union Flag -- which is incorporated in some BA logos -- features three crosses (St Andrew, St Patrick, and St George); and yesterday Rowan Williams took some pleasure in pointing out that BA was selling duty-free crosses on board his flight to Rome.

What's next for the BA unifrom policy? It's now up for review; we'll watch carefully to see how it is amended as a result of that review.