Musicians and the Terror Alert

The new travel restrictions at UK airports are having a devastating effect on musicians, particularly string players, according to Britain's Musicians' Union:

It says its members "are reporting significant lost earnings" because they are unable to take their instruments on board aircraft as hand luggage.

Many instruments are too fragile to be placed in the hold of an airliner, the union told the BBC News website.

But the Department for Transport says the security regulations will "be in place for as long as they need to be".

Certainly, it's generally out of the question for violins, violas and cellos to be stowed in the hold, though it's a moot question whether some brass and woodwind instruments would suffer quite so badly from being handled in this way.

But the "devastating effect" on musicians' careers is surely as nothing compared to what could happen if these restrictions were not enforced...