Just to add (to avoid any risk of confusion) I wasn't for one second want to suggest that this would be --your-- reaction, just that various parts of the dialogue would be fairly natural questions for a proportion of the interactions with passengers acting in good faith but understandably unhappy with being refused lounge entry.

In short, rules are simple to explain, but informal processes on how to arbitrate potential exemptions are not, especially when they rely on information which, by nature, is not (and cannot be) accessible to users in the way it is to staff.

So the practical take away is - there is no change of rule and you are still very much eligible to access the lounge unless one of the exemptions applies, and since you are in a way at the bottom of the priority order, there is always a risk that it may. If you prefer the BA lounge, you really should ask again next time in a similar situation though knowing that if there is a case for an exemption, you'll probably have to take the staff's word for it. Many other times, you'll just be let in as hoped.