Heathrow airport security arrivals Saturday 7th November

embracingLife

spot checks

coylemj

Flying to the UK from Ireland in the 70s and 80s that level of security was fairly common thanks to our brave freedom fighters, people coming off ferries got it even worse and they didn't usually get the level of politeness that you encountered. They may have had intelligence suggesting that a potential terrorist was planing to travel to the UK via Ireland or they may have simply upped security in the arrivals area in all of the UK airports because of the current security situation.

highlydebased

Not uncommon to see this these days at many UK airports for flights from Ireland, particularly at the top of the jetbridges at Heathrow like you experienced

Triangla

Is this a case of looking for illegal immigrants but having to ask everyone just so as not to be accused of racial profiling?

BuffyBot

It happens. Even more frequently with flights from high risk countries. Sniffer dog purpose is fairly obvious if one thinks about it, the questions are just to see if the person responds with nerves etc.

embracingLife

BuffyBot wrote: »

It happens. Even more frequently with flights from high risk countries. Sniffer dog purpose is fairly obvious if one thinks about it, the questions are just to see if the person responds with nerves etc.

Thanks. Yes I've come across the sniffer dogs loads of times in Uk airports, but not the interrogations!
Is Ireland "a high risk" country?! No need to answer-just a rhetorical question

embracingLife

Triangla wrote: »

Is this a case of looking for illegal immigrants but having to ask everyone just so as not to be accused of racial profiling?

as it happens, there were several African people/Indian on board the plane too. One Indian man in front of me, got very nervous face when he tried to "casually" walk past all the police without stopping to be questioned. One of the coppers just reached out his arm blocking yer man's path and said something like, "just a few questions sir" etc

LXFlyer

UK Border Force have increased spot checks on Irish flights - that's been discussed here before.

BuffyBot

embracingLife wrote: »

Thanks. Yes I've come across the sniffer dogs loads of times in Uk airports, but not the interrogations!
Is Ireland "a high risk" country?! No need to answer-just a rhetorical question

Random checks are..random. UKBA/HMRC will do such checks across various destinations. No route is exempt, as those who might wish to breach security/immigration/customs rules will probe for weaknesses with surprising regularity

coylemj

BuffyBot wrote: »

Random checks are..random. UKBA/HMRC will do such checks across various destinations. No route is exempt, as those who might wish to breach security/immigration/customs rules will probe for weaknesses with surprising regularity

+1 the same applies to the body scanners in airports, they are set to randomly go off every so often, even if nothing is detected. The policy is that nobody can be guaranteed that they won't be stopped and pulled over.

embracingLife

BuffyBot wrote: »

Random checks are..random. UKBA/HMRC will do such checks across various destinations. No route is exempt, as those who might wish to breach security/immigration/customs rules will probe for weaknesses with surprising regularity

I know what the definition of random is.

munchkin_utd

was that checks entering UK ?
You probably wouldnt see that in Dublin as the crazy setup means that goddamn everyone has to show a passport (/satisfy the passport checking person that you are irish/ british and coming from IRL/UK)

LXFlyer

munchkin_utd wrote: »

was that checks entering UK ?
You probably wouldnt see that in Dublin as the crazy setup means that goddamn everyone has to show a passport (/satisfy the passport checking person that you are irish/ british and coming from IRL/UK)

Yes it was - the OP has rather unhelpfully deleted their original post.

As discussed previously, UK Border Force have increased the amount of spot checks on arriving flights into London from Ireland.

Mr rebel

Blimey, I think I'd appear quite nervous if I was ever stopped for a random check by the border patrol. What do they even ask you?

LXFlyer

Mr rebel wrote: »

Blimey, I think I'd appear quite nervous if I was ever stopped for a random check by the border patrol. What do they even ask you?

Why is that?

It's normally purely a full ID/passport check, and then further questions and checks for non-Irish/British citizens (to ensure that they can legally enter the UK).

In this case the OP was politely asked a series of questions about their travel plans.

coylemj

Mr rebel wrote: »

Blimey, I think I'd appear quite nervous if I was ever stopped for a random check by the border patrol. What do they even ask you?

It's no harm when you arrive somewhere to be prepared to answers questions. Typically the questions aren't very challenging, they're more interested in your reaction that what you have to say for yourself.

I'll have my passport and other id ready and politely give the purpose of my visit, I never get detained for more than 30 seconds. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this was routine for people travelling from Ireland to the UK in the 1970s and 80s when every point of entry was policed and lots of people were pulled over for a few questions.

Mr rebel

lxflyer wrote: »

Why is that?

It's normally purely a full ID/passport check, and then further questions and checks for non-Irish/British citizens (to ensure that they can legally enter the UK).

In this case the OP was politely asked a series of questions about their travel plans.

Oh I'm just a nervous and reserved person by nature:o

Fratton Fred

Mr rebel wrote: »

Oh I'm just a nervous and reserved person by nature:o

You should try flying to Israel, they ask the same question three or four times in a different way to try and catch you out.

They can tell the difference between the genuinely nervous and those with something to hide.