The English are so clueless. When I was over there about 7 years ago, it was difficult to get them to look you in the eye. The only people who were actually looking at and examining people, were the gangsters. And they saw me right away. We were the only ones actually looking at each other.
The woman carrying the torch was polish. As for the ‘not looking in the eye thing’ that is typical of London, not necessarily England as a whole. It is a way of people adapting to being forced to cram close together in a crowded city to maintain a semblance of privacy.