dublinpilot... thanks for starting this thread. I think it is a good topic to raise... I don`t have any agenda on this and it has the potential for some instructive input from ATC about the day to day management of busy and complicated airspace.
In my experience ATC would rather say yes than no, but of course one rarely knows the bigger picture at the time...
I realise we're not discussing infringements here, but I thought the Fly On Track ATC videos were really useful in seeing things from the other side of the coin as it were...
A series of live ATC recordings of transit flights (preferably with edited R/T in respect of callsigns) would be quite instructive.
For anyone that hasn`t seen them yet ...arranged like this perhaps with some covering notes
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