It was also easy to exceed the Lightning max IAS limit but like all limits one was never really sure what the limit was predicated upon. Would damage result, or worse still, a major accident; or was the limit there because funding ran out to discover the realistic limit.
When I stopped flying there were usually two limits published - Ne for never exceed and No for normal operating. Foreign users tended to use Ne and the RAF No. Unfortunately, never exceed was not always the real limit.
A wise operator was one who knew his own limits for operational use.