If this really was a security related issue, the ban would surely be blanket across the industry with ICAO being urged to make any such ban universal?.
After all what's to stop some ISIS (or similar) supporter in Britain or Germany (to name two countries) from boarding an unrestricted airline to the US, or a restricted airline to a non-US/UK destination with a laptop bomb and bringing down that flight?.
Are the lives of those flying say DXB/JFK worth more than those flying (say) DXB/BKK or KUL?.
If you're banned from taking a container over 100ml of any LAG on an airplane on the grounds of security, surely the same should apply to a laptop?.
It would seem the real target is to hit the revenues of the Gulf 3 and Turkish Airlines in the guise of "security".
The British May government is a subservient lapdog to the US administration-much like Blair was, no doubt also keen to hit the revenues of the above named airlines to the advantage of British Airways.
Again if this was really about security, where's the ban from other governments in the west and elsewhere on such flights?.