For those of us supporting the strikers, is there any point in responding to this response for consultation or is it effectively a done deal?
I'm not entirely sure but would be very surprised if the social consequences for the strikers were an area for consideration in the test as to whether the lease should be approved or not.
The best argument against it would be that there is capacity within the EU that could do this work. But there probably isn't in summer and certainly isn't from a single source...and even if there was a well written contract spec will get round it to make it look like there isn't.
So all that said. it's almost certainly a done deal.