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No true, I travel to the UK very often and I only show my ID, which works as a passport inside EU countries.

A German id card is enough to enter/leave the UK. No passport required. I would assume the same holds for other european id cards.

It holds for many European countries. The United Kingdom has separate passport-free travel agreements with most, but not all, Schengen countries (and with some non-Schengen countries as well.)

To be fair, my travel outside of the Schengen has still been a lot more pleasant than the way the US border is described...

Not if you're travelling from Ireland. You don't need to show any ID - though technically, if you're not an EU citizen you're supposed to join a different exit queue.