Isn't the problem the scanners are ancient and so drive far too many into secondary search as they can't safely see dangerous articles from harmless ones? Or is that just the special Manchester way of doing security again?
THIS debacle is not just about lack of staff, security at MAN has been a huge pain point for experienced travellers for years. Is the old head of security still in place? If so, nought will change.
It's the people at the top that are the problem, not the front line who are set up to fail as they are not given either the tools (arguable IMHO) or the management support (missing) to succeed.