We define and study λ-strict ideals in Banach spaces, which for λ=1 means strict ideals. Strict u-ideals in their biduals are known to have the unique ideal property; we prove that so also do λ-strict u-ideals in their biduals, at least for λ>1/2. An open question, posed by Godefroy et al. [‘Unconditional ideals in Banach spaces’, Studia Math.104 (1993), 13–59] is whether the Banach space X is a u-ideal in Ba(X), the Baire-one functions in X**, exactly when κu(X)=1; we prove that if κu(X)=1 then X is a strict u-ideal in Ba (X) , and we establish the converse in the separable case.
