A thought about the CAA and their 'effectively condoning' the practice.
The auditors that Alan sees are air traffic people that are checking that ATC is done according to the rules. Despite the caution that Alan uses when issuing SVFR clearances (which seems eminently sensible), it is the pilot's responsibility to ensure that he or she complies with Rule 5 and anything else that might be relevant. I think the CAA has different auditors to look at whether the pilots are doing their bit correctly. Just because ATC gets a tick in the box for being done correctly doesn't give any indication as to whether pilots are doing their bit correctly or not.