Hi
Just to add my tit bit.
Exemptions can be granted by the CAA and indeed are in force with a number of single-crew ops around the country. The airline I worked for at Lands End had a MEP IFR no-autopilot exemption as long as single-crew ops were restricted to 6 named 'main route' airports. Perfect for IFR Island-hopping and mainstream up country work. Any airports outside of these 6 are to be flown two-crew (Namely ad-hoc charter flights).
Makes sense really if the majority of flights are to the same group of relatively close destinations, over many sectors everyday.
The airline I then moved to in Scotland with the same piston twins had a similar exemption for the Orkney and Shetland Inter-Island Scheduled flights, but autopilots were required for the Air Ambulance flights. However, even these flights could go single-crew with autopilot u/s within the bounds of the MEL, they just raised the approach minima slightly and restricted the amount of sectors prior to fixing the unit.
Cheers
ACA