Sorry, hit the submit button by accident. Let me start again.

"I'm not clear, Ron. You have said you think the immigration authorities have got it wrong, but you then seem to be saying that the Halle Orchestra should have suppressed this story, which would have had to mean giving some fictitious reasons for why the tour which had already been announced had to be cancelled (and they wouldn't have been believed anyway - with 100 members knowing the truth and a good few other people, secrecy would have been completely impossible, and the outcome would have been a bigger story)."

No, that isn't what I said at all. I NEVER said that the Orchestra should have suppressed the story. That appears to be something that you read into my comments and I'm not sure how.

I think the Orchestra may have jumped the gun and given up before exploring all the possibilities. I also think that the figures they gave are for ONE scenario, but not all.   

I do believe that there is a redtape scenario that the immigration authorities are trying to deal with. Don suggested someone go to Manchester with a rubber stamp. Well, the issue appears to be tied to computer equipment and lines for the fingerprinting process.   I'm not sure if a rubber stamp would cut it.   However, there may have been other work arounds, but the orchestra by all the stories I have read appear to have have given up - with over a year to go before this tour takes place. There is time to negotiate, and there method is to negotiate in the press, which I do not think is the best way to work this out.

Suppose you invite me to dinner. I say that I would like to eat on Thursday and could you come to New Jersey with the meal, and you say that Thursday is no good for you and the food would get cold if you delivered it. Should I then go to the press and say that McGrath has denied me the opportunity to eat?   No, I think we would try to work something out.   

As I've said from the beginning, I think the Orchestra did not give this a chance to be worked out.