Just back from GRU - Flew G-YMMP and took 11 hrs 10mins so off to bed real soon.
No I'm still not convinced about unheard of flap modulation during the approach and will give MP a ring tomorrow. As he is BA's 777 Tech manager I will abide by his answer.
It's a BA SOP to fly with autothrottle engaged at all times. It is actually easier to hand fly with it disengaged - like most Boeings, but the Fly by Wire system takes any power induced trim changes out of the elevator feel. When you set a pitch attitude (either manually or thru' the autopilot) the elevator system treats that as a flight vector and actual elevator movement bears no relation to stick position if power is altered at the same time. Thus you have to work very hard and make coarse control inputs to induce PIO at any stage. Simply put - she goes where you point her and a single blip of trim syncronises speed and feel. PFM........