This is a case of professional pilots (and many others, in other industries) being held hostage to politics. We have a self-obsessed, inflexible, bureaucratic monster engaging with a stubborn, petulant and immature government that wants to turn the clock back 100 years. Not a great recipe for progress.
In the meantime, the only thing left to do to repair this mess is to engage with our political representatives, although my concern is those in a position to make things happen are simply not interested.