As the founder member of F3G's sociopath club I welcome (as a britinireland) a paddyinuk and lowcost dolly.
The guy in the toilet got his just deserts. I have irritable bowel syndrome so know exactly what it feels like to "be in urgent need" but have managed in nearly 50 years of flying as SLF in the back and hundreds of hours in jump seats up front to avoid going to the loo when the seat belt signs are on.
One thing I've noticed in recent years is just how much UK and Irish airlines have tightened up with regard to seatbelt briefing and checking for belts being fastened when appropriate. For instance Aer Lingus to and from Boston last summer were even a little over the top. The slightest ripple and the sign went on and the crew checked every belt. If I tell you that BOS-SNN was 5 hrs dead you can see that we were riding the jetstream and the sign was on more than off.
Compared to 30 and more, or even 10 years ago, the airlines have become more conscious of something. This applies to every British and Irish airline I've flown with recently - bmi, British Airways, easyJet, FlyBe, Thomson, Virgin, Aer Lingus and Ryanair - all seem to have tightened up. Could that something be a combination of more litigious passengers and declining revenues leading to losses which they don't want compounding by the costs of litigation and the lottery of a justice system which might just see injured pax, however culpable, as victims rather than idiots?
As far as I'm concerned wearing of seatbelts on board should be mandatory whilst seated and moving around the cabin - something I always do on long haul flights - should be on the basis of a strictly enforced return to seat and belt up policy, as per the book - no excuses, no exceptions, period.