today

"U.S. e-passports will contain a web of metal fiber embedded in the front cover of the documents to shield them from unauthorized readers. Though Basic Access Control would keep the chip from yielding useful information to attackers, it would still announce its presence to anyone with the right equipment. The government added the shielding after privacy activists expressed worries that a terrorist could simply point a reader at a crowd and identify foreign travelers.

In theory, with metal fibers in the front cover, nobody can sniff out the presence of an e-passport that's closed. But Mahaffey and Hering demonstrated in their video how even if a passport opens only half an inch -- such as it might if placed in a purse or backpack -- it can reveal itself to a reader at least two feet away."

There are a lot of other nasty tricks that can easily be done on the new UK passport, even a simple enemy with a grudge can easily identify people, and on air tampering with your passport's contents may be easy.

IMO:The new UK passports are perhaps best kept closed, in a metal fibre case, which could also serve as a passport holder. You could probably make your own.