That is completely possible but my issue was why I wasn't allowed below MSA. After spending two hours planning my nav, weight, fuel etc a change of route wasn't really on the cards. Giving it a wide berth would have been a solution looking back on it but at the time I had no reason to do so, it was only in the brief just before the flight that I was told. Thats why I wanted a pprune opinion on the subject because it really confused me at the time - I felt penalised for doing something I had been taught was perfectly acceptable.