I think ST is the last resort nowadays for many commuters, especially as Big Brother is watching your commuting and duty times. I gather more than a few commuters are using Easy and Ryanair so BA management can’t track you. A farcical state of affairs that means crew are arriving to work more tired than if they’d caught a BA flight and got a comfy seat.
What with the strong likelihood of a hard Brexit, that nobody voted for, it does seem to be the British way to persevere with a plan of action that has a worse outcome than the status quo.