Here's a common sense solution to alleviate the concerns of all and to actually do something to combat the problem. For those non-EU nationals on a long-term entry clearance (ILR, spousal visa, Tier 1 or Tier 2 visa, other long-term Entry Clearance), let them use the UK/EU queues. Those with biometric residence permits, let them use the ePassport gates. As most would be taxpayers, this will please the Home Office's best (foreign) customers. And as these are low-risk, pre-cleared returning residents, attention can continue to be given to those requiring more scrutiny.
Because at the end of the day, the point is that absolutely nobody wants to read things like this:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/tr...-approach.html
Not quite so easy. The people manning the EU/EEA desks are probably the contingency staff who have only been trained to process EU/EEA. It is likely that they will not have stamps, so cannot process other passengers, even if there are no queues.