The requirement has *always* been there since the liquid ban was introduced.
All liquids to be placed in a resealable bag whose dimesnsions are prescribed and must be of clear plastic. It doesn't matter under the rules that you have one item that is < 100ml as the rules say they must be in the bag above. The facr that some airports are lax on the rules the DFT brought in is also of some minor concern. How hard is it to put your gear into one bag, picked up free from any BAA airport?
Being called "monkey island" from an economic basket case like Portugal isn't quite as clever as you might wish mon ami. Has the IMF pitched up yet?