I did make it clear quite some time ago that this was going to happen and I was battered to death over how it would never happen and given a thousand reasons why I was wrong.......
However the jury is still out and both PPLIR and AOPA are fighting very hard to save the rating, this has included a working group with the CAA to attempt to update the standards of training to make them more palatable.
I am not going to despair just yet.