In terms of letting the Gulf carriers dominate the regions, sadly I have to wonder why the three alliances are letting them do this
Not sure which data you are using, but traffic between UK regional airports and the Gulf was 1.7m in 2009. Traffic between UK regional airports and Heathrow was 5.5m. AF/KLM traffic is getting on for 4m between UK regional airports and their hubs in CDG & AMS. For proper UK regional coverage, KL are streets ahead.