a. The CAA does not necessarily have an "extremely punitive attitude to airspace infringements", it looks at every single case (including the pilot's response) in isolation.
In your dreams.
To adopt a "lets not talk to them attitude" smacks of poor airmanship.
One has to ask what the benefit is and then weigh that against the risks. In this case, the benefits do not seem to outweigh the risks. Given all this palaver, where possible I shall simply fly along squawking 7000 mode charlie, keep a listening watch and let others avoid me.
If these bureaucrats actually cared about flight safety and had an ounce of sense, they would do their best to include people like me, not give me plenty of reasons to exclude myself.
QDM