I keeping meaning to write to them to see what their "official" view is.
The official view of the body that makes the rules is both interesting and relevant but it is
not definitive.
What's definitive is what the courts say.
The Inland Revenue, to be fair, can be quite open about this. If you ask them "if I were to do X, what would be the implications" they will sometimes say, not in so many words but it's clear what they mean, "not telling you mate, try it and see what happens, at the end of the day it's down to the judge".