charlie-india-mike
I believe you are technically correct; however
a) I think that the radio license which you must get as part of your PPL course covers the operation of whatever radio you have IN THE AIRCRAFT, so a license is required only if you are to use the transceiver outside it
b) Perhaps all transceivers openly for sale in the pilot shops are CAA approved - which is why they are the same 5-10 year old models ie ICOM A22 or whatever, not the much nicer and smaller American-market ICOM products of which some have a voice recording function, but which, I dare say, could be legally imported if not legally used?
c) For emergencies, nobody is going to give a damn. There's you floating in your life raft, calling up an airliner at FL350 on 121.50 to relay a mayday message (the range will be pretty good for doing that!)...