Tim
That's an excellent post and I think you may be right.
The only thing I would add is that it is very easy to top your NPPL up to a JARPPL with almost all hours counting. For those that want to go onto IR or multis, the path is simple and cheap.
The only thing which may affect this, and I think its a current fault with JARPPL, is that NPPL is likely to accept training hours at non licenced airfields. This is already the case with the NPPL M and there is no reason why NPPL A shouldn't follow from this.
Al, very interesting that FAA accept microlight hours for PPL A currency.
My main concern in all this is that as the line between SEP aircraft and microlights has blurred, I hope microlights do not get lost in the fog of SEP regulation.