Originally Posted by
IO540
What about VFR in Class D?
It is from the PPL section and more fully means - in (Class D) VFR (in VMC of course) is OK, IFR in VMC is forbidden, IFR in IMC is forbidden.
The logic of why the CAA phrasing means IFR in VMC is forbidden (to a PPL in class D) is ---
Although you are not 'in circumstances requiring compliance with the IFRs', once you say you are IFR, you will receive and accept an IFR clearance, putting you in a 'circumstance requiring compliance with the IFRs' (which in this particular case are almost certainly operationally identical to the VFRs).
This is almost a verbatim response I received from the CAA.