Litebulb and others, the current security rules came from the same people that brought you ....
Dodgy dossiers ..... WMDs in 45 minutes ...... tanks at LHR ...... tax credits fiasco ...... HIPs to name just the ones that come to mind at the moment. In all these cases the politicians overruled/ignored the advice of the specialists. The security rules are a political fig leaf to give the impression that effective measures are being taken, when as everyone has pointed out they have no real impact on security and a great impact on safety. Why is it secure for ground staff to hand me my checked-in overnight bag ten yards after Security when I could simply have carried it through? Why use up valuable pre-flight time finding somewhere to check in my bag at some UK airports (but not others) - and NO US or other overseas airports ?
CHIRP is currently emphasising the stress caused by these pointless rules, which were one of (I think) only two occasions when CAA objections were overruled. Gesture politics have no place in civil aviation.