I'll just do a quick reply before I nip into work. Of course I'm not advocating getting rid of all hand baggage, but it needs to be kept to a sensible, manageable level. Peoples' lives and health are far more important than a wee bit of inconvenience.
If you re-read my posting, I did actually say that we need, as an airline, to make the delivery of checked baggage slick and quick. If we could reliably reunite you with your bags within 5 minutes of your arrival in the baggage hall, I doubt very much if you would object to checking your bag in.
It is the uncertainty of waiting, sometimes 60 minutes, for your bags only to find they were never loaded in the first place that causes passengers' objections - even those that have never had a bad experience themselves, but have read about others.
Your convenience v your safety v the safety of other passengers will always be a major bone of contention. The capitulation of our proud British airline, the CAA and the DeTR to the greedy maw of commercial pressure by allowing heavy cabin baggage after advocating safety for so many years sickens me.
At least, for a temporary period, our aircraft cabins will be safe.