gasax
The major criticism of the IMC rating is that it is a rating to get you into trouble.
I strongly disagree. Please suggest a rating which might get one OUT of trouble?? An ATPL?
If you happen to be an instructor, have you ever wondered why some 90% of PPLs chuck it all in before their PPL comes up for its first renewal? I would suggest the main reason is that the PPL syllabus, as it stands, is inadequate for flying in UK weather.
Currency is nearly everything. An IMCR pilot, with good currency on type, in a suitably equipped and maintained plane, will be a lot safer than somebody with every rating in the book who hasn't flown for a year.
The JAA IR, with its silly ATPL ground school, is out of reach of most private pilots. The much more sensible FAA IR is out of reach of most non-owners (because it needs an N-reg plane; you can run a group around one but they all need an FAA PPL or an endorsement). And the dropout rate of PPL-only pilots is incredibly high; perhaps just as well as a bare PPL is useless for much of the year.
Never knock the IMC Rating. It is the baseline for practical flying in the UK, a requirement for anyone who wants to do decent cross-country flights without the continual hassle of weather cancellations, weather diversions, etc. Over a year, the majority of the VFR or IFR flights I do would not have been prudently done by a PPL pilot, based on what the TAFs say.