Dikastes
There is nothing wrong with taking 5k on civil traffic over the North sea, doing so removes the need to continuously call a busy Tyne/Humber sector chap and allows the WC to concentrate on providing a service to the AD a/c and the ATC chap to do his job. ATC will almost always call us and advise us of an a/c that is due to start a decent etc, that's when coordination/planning come into play. We don't play in Class D and only cross A as per SOPs. Now, taking 5 miles.... I'd agree that it's not the best idea in the world!
During QRA launches, the info flow between the mil and civil sectors is continuous and if the Typhoons need to cross the spine, it is well managed, follows a practices set of procedures and is always safe. Let's not forget the urgency of a Q launch and the need to intercept aircraft as expeditiously as possible.
IMHO, there are too many folk at NATS who do not understand the QRA mission and as a result, think that pilots are playing 'Topgun' in the FIR. How do I know this? I've sat next to plenty of NATS controllers during visits to Swanwick and spoken to them about day to day ASACS work and QRA.