Hold fire

NUJ officials in the BBC are set to meet today to review their planned strikes over what they see as the threat of compulsory redundancies in BBC Scotland and South Asian services in the World Service. The goal is unachievable - the BBC can never make a commitment to avoid compulsory cuts; but it usually comes closer to delivering than any other organisation. The union's position over this case - and unquestioning articles like Nick Cohen's in The Observer (picked over by Richard Sambrook) - will lose friends inside and outside the organisation. Best outcome - at least a postponement.