i don't want to sound stupid but haven't we just had a directive that in order to re enforce the seriousness with which we consider our borders Immigration Officers have been given a stern new uniform as it was felt the old one was too casual and easygoing making illegals perceive us as a soft touch !

paul brunskill, bradford, England

I agree thar UK immigration staff are pretty grim. Last week, arriving from Korea for my first visit my homeland in 3 years the immigration officer granted me wtih not a smile or a word. Hardly lifts the jet-lagged spritis!

Daniel, Nagoya, Japan

The first thing that struck me as we drove off the ferry at Dover was the ugliness of the gateway to England, one is directed into a rusty dark dripping tunnel festooned with ganglions of drainage pipes and security cameras, surly policemen kitted out in Kevlar and high visibility toting dangling automatic weapons, road spikes and something that looks like an x-ray machine, the twisty little kerb chipped potholed road winds through the customs shed past dirty little booths reminiscent of a nineteen fifties condemned slaughter house. Keep left keep left, Cadburys chocolate, Lucozade, Welcome to Dover.

garryslater, ettenheim,

please ask immigration to use the primary question "why are you coming to the UK ?" to be changed or rephrased so that it does not offend !!

shripad, normanton,

I agree with the impression you get entering the US. It's horrible. They are the first people that foreigners meet. What a lousy way to start a holiday. As a frequent traveler it is pot luck whether you get a poster child for depression when entering the UK. Training for them is a very good idea. It's important.

Larry, Stratford upon Avon,

A friendly face at English Customs?? I hope to see that day before i die. Really, on arrival to England is not that you feel unwelcome by customs officers, is that you wonder for how long they have been constipated to have that expression on their faces...hence the "stiff upper lip" look shown most of the time. Light up a bit , you till can do your job while smiling.

koldo, Europe, europe

You must be jocking!

Every time I fly to Germany I am confronted with the most unfriendly and arrogant immigration personel I have ever come across in any part oif the world.
I speak German and I say 'Hallo' or Guten Tag, but no reaction whatsoever from those rude people, even a robot would be more friendly, then they hand my passport back without a word or even looking at me, not a Thanks nothing!

On the other hand coming back home to Britain is another matter, always friendly, they anser to my Good Morning and they say 'Thank you, Sir', and sometimes they would even have a few words to spare or make a joke, then I know I am back home in a civilised country!

Birtain has the friendliestand most plote immigration officers I haver ever come accross. Only in Singapore are friendlier.

E Angeleri, Brighton, United Kingdom

after my recent trip to Stansted: LOADS OF WORK THERE!

mark, alicante,

If you want to see really arrogant and rude border officials,then visit Russia

dan hughes, wonthaggi, victoria Australia

What a pointless initiative. Why not lower the price of accommodation, eating out and public transport instead? Locals would benefit too and that might just cheer up the airport staff all by itself.

Emma Chambers, Paris,

I travel a lot to Germany other Western Countries and other places in the world for business or holiday and always found the sight of a civilian at border control, like it is in Britain, much more welcoming than a person in uniform who has an air of police, military and control.

Please leave our border officials as they are because they look and act very human.

Adrian Jegeni, Kidderminster, England

I am German by passport but European in my mentality and I am surprised to read such language in a British paper.
Congratulations - and I reckon the rest of the world will welcome any change in British immigration staff's behavior and attitude. I have been arriving at a London airport about once per week in the last two years and I must say that any arrival has stressed my patience to the limits. Worst , however, has been staff's attitude which always made me feel like barely tolerated but never welcome. Funnily enough, the warning signs referring to verbal abuse, etc. have surely not been put up without any reason: travellers treated like this will quickly open their mouths and start complaining. I must admit I have done so a few times and almost got into trouble - rather than my comments having been taken as room and challenge for improvement.
Let's see if I ever experience a step forward - I would be positively surprised.

Frenger, Cologne, Germany

I would like to see American visitors to the UK given the warm welcome that we Brits are accorded upon arriving in the USA...long queues and snarling, surly immigration officers!

Dave, Knutsford Cheshire,

Don't fool yourselves into confusing the 'stiff upper lip' with surly, unhelpful staff who look like they have sucked on a lemon.

Chantel, UK,

"Smile before you fleece"?

Keith, Milwaukee, WI, USA

Where humor is at a premium, a most unusual statement

Maurice , Hessen,

Fine just as long as they remember we haven't come to visit the airport staff and most of us will be staying no more than a few weeks in Britain. Also give the 5th Terminal a chance and see if current problems at Heathrow improve before forever knocking the place. Then don't ruin everything gained by Terminal 5 by immediately building a needless, polluting, guilt-inducing 3rd runway and 6th terminal on public land. And perhaps the now happy staff can take their happiness home with them into their real lives.

Rare visitor, Nantun, Taiwan

This reminds me of a time my boyfriend & I , were crossing the German border by car one summer.
The guard took our passports, studied them , handed them back, then put his head into the car window , smiled & said, 'Happy Birthday ' to me , !! he had noticed my date of birth was the same as that day.
It was such a lovely friendly moment, I have thought of it many times since.
What a difference a smile & a bit of thought makes.

Maggie Millington, Brittany , France

We shouldn't just improve the airports, the whole of the British population needs to lighten up!

I know life pretty much sucks for a lot of people at the moment, with the house prices and suchlike, but it'd be a lot more bearable if people were a tad more cheerful (without having to be drunk first).

starling, Lancaster,