Perhaps this has something to do with the recent bomb threat incident at Heathrow & the fact that a cabin crew member was detained. Crew are probably now considered as much of a threat as anyone else (if they weren't already) & perhaps even more so, given their regular access to aircraft.
The thing that annoys me most is that the procedures are not even standardised across all the airports in the UK, let alone all the airports in the world. Makes a bit of a mockery of the whole thing, doesn't it?