""It just emphasises what a sudden and dramatic out of the blue surprise this has been to everyone.
That is no way to deal with a highly sensitive issue, is it?""

A surprise that takes three years (two of them spent in consultation with everybody apparently but you) to assimilate is somewhat unsurprising to most people.

Of course if your mental responses are that slow, I suppose you could be surprised by it, but I can't help feeling that you are not actually one of the interested parties who deserved to be consulted.

They didn't consult me either, but I'm neither miffed nor bothered. I'm quite willing to accept that the process was fairly discussed and settled, without the benefit of your wise counsel.

Don T.