It's actually got to do with spacing of aircraft by ATC. Sequencing of aircraft is difficult at the best of times but when the winds are blowing like they were today, it throws up all sorts of chaos. Difficult to understand for the SLF but I wouldn't say the wool was being pulled over your eyes. Causes many delays on a daily basis. Had a three hour slot imposed on my aircraft only last week for the same reason. It's not so much the wind on the ground thats the problem. The wind at say 6000ft can be three or four times what it is on the ground and that has an impact on aircraft groundspeeds. For example an aircraft can be downwind to land at an indicated speed of 220 knots but with a 60 knot tailwind can have a ground speed of 280 knots. At busy periods in the London Area, and not necessary just arriving at LHR (busiest airspace in the world) it is difficult to control numerous aircraft arriving at the same time.
Hope it may clear up some of the confusion. I have had this argument with ATC myself on numerous occasions and this is the very reasonable reason given.