All fair comments, but I would like to point out the Danger areas that cover most of the English channel, they are not always available for transit and therefore for us to issue DCT clearances outside CAS would require co-ordination before the flight has even taken off which would be most impractical given the changeable nature of the areas. Also given the number of different agencies within the UK (compared to the USA's 1) there is no guarantee that they would have knowledge of the flight as it depends entirely on how the pilot has filed, and in the case of AFPEX, addressed the plan. I agree that flying airways into the CICTR in a small a/c can mean going a longer routing than may be desirable, there is also the problem of radar coverage in certain areas, this is why Jersey can only give a Basic Service outside of the CICTZ in UK airspace. If the controllers aren't busy then you may be handed over to a LARS unit but the priority will always be with a/c operating within our airspace.