A planned strike by workers on the Heathrow Express rail service between the airport and London has been called off after a new pay offer, it was announced today.

London Underground said a good service was running on all Tube lines today despite an earlier strike in protest over the sacking of a driver.

Critical talks between ministers and the unions over public-sector pension reform have a 50-50 chance of being cancelled, senior negotiators have warned as the Government reiterated a new hardline approach to a deal. Union leaders said they were close to pulling out of a meeting with ministers next week to hammer out a broad agreement for ongoing discussions.

"David Cameron does not realise what a powerful position he is in," said a headline in yesterday's Telegraph. One example the essay did not mention is that the Prime Minister, has not yet latched on to one of his most effective weapons for silencing potential malcontents on his backbenches – knighthoods.

At the present state of discussions, it is hard to know who, if anyone, is trying to bluff whom and what shape the real bargaining is taking.

London Underground appealed for a series of Tube strikes to be called off today, saying it will reinstate a sacked driver if told to by an employment tribunal.

Workers on the express rail link between Heathrow Airport and central London are to stage a 24-hour strike in a row over pay, it was announced today.

Whenever national strikes have been threatened in this century, ears have been pricked to detect the distant echoes of those in the last one – especially now that there is the prospect of industrial struggle against a Conservative government.

The Government is facing the biggest outbreak of industrial action since it came to power after civil servants joined teachers in voting heavily for strikes in worsening rows over pensions, pay and jobs.

What is genius worth? If you're the management of Apple, then the answer is simple: $14 an hour (£8.50). That's how much the computer giant pays hardworking staff at their American retail outlets, who are officially known as "geniuses" and who can often be found at an in-store facility known as "the genius bar".

A Government minister today accused a union of using "blackmail" at the expense of tennis fans for planning Tube strikes during the Wimbledon championships.