No No No. It's not Health and Safety. It's the law. A recent response from BA customer relations included the paragraph...

"To comply with government regulations, we needed to close some of our Executive Club lounges. I know this isn't the service you expect to receive and you should've received communication about this via email. I apologise if this wasn't the case."

I just cannot be bothered to ask exactly which regulations they were referring to or why said regulations apply to all of the BA UK lounges except Terminal 5. Or why other lounge operators are getting away with flouting the regulations. Or why other airlines are offering lounges for their UK passengers.

How hard would it be for the head of BA customer relations to have a suitably believable excuse with script as to why lounges are closed so that at least the agents can give a consistent message?
Do they really care that little?