Looks like the google.co.uk site redirects to a tablet optimized page. I can't find any way to bypass it, including deleting the #sclient=tablet portion of the URL.
You can bypass this by using a third party browser like Atomic or iCab Mobile. These browsers let you change their browser ID's so that the web site thinks they are desktop computers. The setting is under the gear/cog icon in Atomic, and somewhat deeper in the settings for iCab Mobile.
The search field acts a bit wonky when I don this, but it is still usable. I think it's the Instant Search feature that is doing it.
The google.com site has not yet been afflicted with this change. So unless you need UK specific results you could just go to that site instead.