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Pointless questions at Eurotunnel.


Guile
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Has anyone else wondered why the new UK Border Agency ask such stupid questions at Eurotunnel check points?

For example;

Where have you been?

Why were you there?

For how long?

Where are you going?

Did you book a return ticket?

What is your job?

Is this you car?

Apart from it being my car, they have ANPR, PNC and my Passport to verify who I am etc, what is the point of the other questions. None of them can be proven by the UKBA.

I could tell them anything I wanted and they could not know if it were true or not. I am sure any criminal would do just that.

Last time I was asked where I had been I actually said to the person "I could say anything I wanted and you couldn't prove it". The look on her face was a picture. I then asked if I was obliged to answer her questions, to which she said "no sir, you don't have to answer".

The time before that the staff were taking so long asking the passengers ahead of me questions that I actually missed my booked train despite leaving the terminal at the correct time. I was not amused.

So, what's the point?

Unless of course, they are just nosey parkers! 

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While having some sympathy at having to answer what are to you pointless questions, I think the best course of action is to answer politely and smile. I am sure there is some hidden purpose behind such simple questions reflected in the way they are answered. I personally feel that there is no point in deliberately upsetting or annoying UKBA, Customs or border police, etc  as they can make life a lot more difficult for you than vice versa.

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A few years ago in UK I went to report a minor theft - just to make sure it was recorded as crime is only falling as people cannot be bothered to report it.

I was asked what ethnicity I was - I replied that that was for them to decide they were the law.

I asked why it mattered and they said it would help in stopping crime, I reminded them that I was reporting a crime not commiting one. They were really eager that I gave my ethnicity so I said Jewish Asian Caribbean they said that did not appear on the form so I would be put down as 'other' - well it pleased them.

UK Border Agency is just more jobs for the boys - soon nothing will be produced in UK just sinecures and they will be paid for by a few gamblers on the international markets that are just causing inflation.

 

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It can be irritating, but sometimes these questions are a way for the official to gain a bit of time in order to get a feel for the type of person they're dealing with. How a person answers the questions, whether he'she hesitates or is evasive, could be pointers to him/her trying to hide something.

If you answer politely I think you've got a better chance of getting through quicker than if you play a smarta**e!

Sid

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As well as the Border Agency people there are also several members of the Kent constabulary in the same room - presumably checking car registrations against their database. I imagine that they must draw lots to decide whose turn it is for an easy day in France.

The questions always seem to be the same so there must be some sort of way that suspiciousness can be rated by the way you answer. Or they just enjoy annoying people because they can.

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I get pulled out of the line and asked these same questions frequently, something about me or the times that i travel together with the car contents must fit their profile of whoever they are guarding against.

I find that they always fire the questions at a rapid pace, never waiting to hear or comprehend my replies, I think the object is to fluster you, put you under stress and see your reaction.

Now I answer the first question slowly and clearly, after an unecessarily long pause for reflection, if they interrupt my reply with the next one on the list I just clam up and say nothing, when they ask why I am refusing to answer I say that I am happy to answer any question if they are polite enough to listen to my response, if not, I am saying nothing, its my right.

To be fair they are usually humanoid and after the initial confrontation the interview passes with good humour, I have never had an in depth search or been delayed for my crossing/onward journey. I am tempting fate by saying this as next time I might get a body cavity search from Mr Android [:-))]

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[quote user="Guile"]Has anyone else wondered why the new UK Border Agency ask such stupid questions at Eurotunnel check points?

[/quote]

One of the best I remember was disembarking from an overnight ferry at about 6.00 a.m. when, after an excruciatingly long wait, I was asked:  Can you tell me how far you have travelled today?

I suggested:  About two hundred yards  -  which the officer seemed to find perfectly satisfactory.

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The spotty work experience twit at Harwich a few years ago takes some beating.

Reading from a clipboard and in deadly serious tone he asked me, and I quote verbatim as I will never forget his very words, "are we carrying any weapons of mass destruction today sir?"

I don't know which was more ridiculous, the question itself or the 'today' bit [:'(]

I was in fact toting a whole case of Heinz baked beans so my answer 'no' was possibly not the whole truth [blink]

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Yes, its annoying. I assume they hope to catch out the odd dozy terrorist.

Where have you come from sir.

Iraq...no, France, yes,definately france France.....

carrying anything you shouldnt be, sir?

just this semtex....err, no, nothing.

Step this way please sir. now bend over.

ah, dammit, foiled again.

On a more serious note, dont annoy them, keep it polite, and do as they ask - if they take the huff with you, they can quite legitimately hold you for pretty much as long as they like, while they reduce your car to its component pieces to search for contraband.

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[quote user="Dog"]

A few years ago in UK I went to report a minor theft - just to make sure it was recorded as crime is only falling as people cannot be bothered to report it.

I was asked what ethnicity I was - I replied that that was for them to decide they were the law.

I asked why it mattered and they said it would help in stopping crime, I reminded them that I was reporting a crime not commiting one. They were really eager that I gave my ethnicity so I said Jewish Asian Caribbean they said that did not appear on the form so I would be put down as 'other' - well it pleased them.

UK Border Agency is just more jobs for the boys - soon nothing will be produced in UK just sinecures and they will be paid for by a few gamblers on the international markets that are just causing inflation.

 

[/quote]

Well, having just done a course on Equality and Diversity the reason for the question was as a result of the Laurence case (young black boy who was murdered). The subsequent enquiry stated that more effort would have been put in to the enquiry if he had been white and the Met labelled 'institutionally racist' - hence the monitoring now to ensure colour of skin does not affect how a crime is treated.

As for the questions, having know a customs official they are looking to telltale reactions that will tell them if the truth is being told. The questions might seem mundane but they will cause some people to give themselves away that they are lying.

As for daft questions I remember the visa waiver form that had to be completed for entry to the US asked if you were going to commit terroist acts. The US friends did not believe this was asked so I had to get a spare one to show them. This I thought even worse to being asked as my reactions could not be detected.

Also, beware of bright red and gold Toyota Land Cruisers - last time coming back through the tunnel one of the queues for passport control was short and I got on that - in front the Toyota with Dubai plates - it was sometime after first questioning the occupants at the booth before they pulled them off elsewhere.

Paul

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[quote user="Guile"]
Apart from it being my car, they have ANPR, PNC and my Passport to verify who I am etc, what is the point of the other questions. None of them can be proven by the UKBA.
I could tell them anything I wanted and they could not know if it were true or not. [/quote]

 

Assuming of course that they don't already know some of the answers already - as someone else has already suggested.

 

A few years ago I had to return to the UK to pick up MIL's effects.  The hire van naturally attracted some attention on its arrival in the UK, but with a few boittles of wine, a suitcase and a crate of beer, the searches were not too onerous.

 

On my next visit to the UK - different arrival point, different transport mode.  I was asked,"Just a quick business trip this time sir?"

 

They look dumb, they talk dumb, the act dumb - don't let it fool you.  They ain't dumb. (well maybe the spooty yoof in Harwich - but then it could have been his first day and he had been given the typical apprentice joke task - like go get a glass hammer and a left handed screw driver.)

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Seemingly on a 'selective' basis, they're doing this at St Pancras for incoming Eurostars.  Interesting, in view of the fact that anyone dodgy might think that they're 'home & dry' by then, customs and security checks having been done on embarkation.

Our son was pulled over there at the end of July and asked the exact same questions as in the 1st post here, but with the addition of "You're aware that it's illegal to bring drugs in to the UK?" A detector was passed over his suitcase, but it seems that his cigarettes and winebox didn't register!

Just for the record, he had no problem with the check. It was polite & thorough. His view (and mine) is that it's a necessary evil for the border authorities to be more vigilant. 

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Some years ago, we decided that when going through entry / customs points, they judged people by look - what wearing, did they seem nervous etc.  Since OH always wears his Harris tweed sports jacket (very English, very crumpled, very absentminded professorish), he never looked like the usual holidaymaker anyhow!  And I found that if I wore a jacket and trousers, rather than the crumpled track suit which had been the norm, we passed through without any problems.  Unfortunately, it is a truism that if you look right, you get better treatment.  I found that whenever I wore a jacket (and unless I was on business this was not my normal wear for travelling) somehow the manners changed, and I received better treatment. 

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On two occasions leaving England on a BF to France we have been in the security section for the car to be checked and for us to answer questions. The question that always makes me smile is " are you carry any weapons like knives, swords, guns or similar " If we were terrorists and wanted to capture the boat would we say yes to these quetions. They are always very pleasant though and always have a smile on their faces.

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When I first travelled to France on my own in the mid sixties at the age of ten, I was asked if I had any tea or coffee with me.  Weird questions at borders are nothing new!  It's got to be about guaging one's reactions I guess, as if one were carrying anything illegal, one would hardly admit it unless incredibly dim.

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A couple of years ago I was asked on arrival at Portsmouth, on several successive occasions, whether I was carrying any drugs or pornographic material. It must have been the dirty mac and Benny Hill specs that were a giveaway.

It always seems strange that when I go by car I usually go straight on the ferry, but if a foot passenger there's the airport-style scanners for people and bags to negotiate first. I suppose terrorists only travel on foot.

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