Standard Life and BA keep shtum on talks

BOTH Standard Life Investments and British Airways stonewalled questions last night on their crunch meeting to discuss various shareholder issues, most notably the Terminal Five fiasco.

David Cummings, SLI's head of UK equities, and Guy Jubb, the Edinburgh fund manager's head of corporate governance, met BA's chairman Martin Broughton yesterday as the terminal row rumbled on.

But a BA spokesman said: "We do not comment on private meetings, which is what this was." SLI also declined to comment.

It is understood Cummings and Jubb will today continue their talks with BA in a meeting with the troubled airline's chief executive, Willie Walsh.