On 12/07/2012 06:56, Roland Perry wrote:
[...]
In the old days, at places like Gatwick they'd let people waving the
cover of a British passport through a "fast lane" at the rate of two or
three a second, in much the same way they still run the Green Channel
customs lane (no documents, no discussions) most of the time.

You used to be able to wave the back (i.e. blank) side of a burgundy
passport and be waved through.