Prophead, I completely agree. I think some people have a terrible attitude towards the 100 P1 hours requirement for the CPL. See another thread currently floating around on exactly this subject (and the offence I seem to have caused!).
I do disagree with this IMC business though. The hour building is supposed to be VFR. Thus, the IMC is useless. Yes, it can give you a taster of the IR, but this effectively turns the IR into a 70 hour course. Unless you need the extra hours, an absolute waste of money.
Don't forget, only the UK have the IMC rating. If you were doing a foreign ATPL, it wouldn't be an option. Every other country in the world manages fine without it.
I do think it is an excellent rating, provided it is used for the reasons it was designed for.
EK