Originally Posted by
Christopher
Hmm... there ought to be no difference in the "scrutiny" given to people entering from an EU country compared with those entering from any other part of the world, since the UK is not in the Schengen area and all passengers arriving from outside the Common Travel Area (i.e. the UK, the crown dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, and the Republic of Ireland) are subject to passport control... Another example of things not working quite as they ought to be, perhaps?
I wasn't referring to immigration (which is done in Paris or Brussels for Eurostar and occasionally at St Pancras although I have no clue how they know who to check). I was referring to the unnecessary customs agents loitering at St Pancras inbound. The UK is a member of the EU which is, first and foremost, a customs union. There is no duty imposed entering the UK from Belgium or France.
Or are those folks really loitering immigration agents who pull people out at random? If so, that seems even sillier than checking at that one location.