PAG
I'm sorry? Are you implying that having a PPL makes you more qualified than a pilot in the RAF? To quote J McEnroe Esq: 'You cannot be serious!'
I had a PPL before I joined the RAF, & I currently have an ATPL - I believe that outranks your 'qualification'. I doubt I'm alone in the RAF either. Incidently, I did my IRT in a service aircraft, as part of my MCT allowance. I looked at doing it through a civvy flying training school, but that would have involved a couple of weeks away from work and approx £6000 under the Linkup scheme which would have been paid for by the MOD - doing it on my MCT alocation therefore represented good value for the MOD, and I even paid the test fee myself.
I really think you should stop worrying about this, it's a perfectly reasonable thing for people to do with their training time - they're going to burn holes in the sky anyway so who cares if a CAA examiner comes along for the ride?