Just had a troubling experience at LGW -- looks like they are introducing "SPOT" type programmes. After having my passport and BP checked as usual by the gate agent, I walked through into the waiting area and was approached by a man in a (very nice) suit and asked for my passport. I asked him who he was and under what a authority he was asking for it and said he was a "special branch" police officer and displayed his ID. He took my passport and then started asking me questions about my travels, what I do for a living, etc. I asked what he wanted the information for and he replied he was "interested in people who are travelling". I told him his "interest" was not reason enough for me to provide private information. He flipped through my passport and then said, "it looks like you travel quite a bit". I acknowledged that that was a conclusion one could reasonably reach from examining my passport. He then thanked me and I went on.

Amazing how ideas travel from one bureaucracy to another, no matter how stupid and pointless they are.