If you would like a response from Birmingham, here are one individual's thoughts on the situation. Firstly I do not condone rudeness on the R/T - it is not good practice in any situation and usually counter-productive in the ATC environment. Having said that, a few points need to be made.
I cannot comment directly on a "shocking story" taken from a magazine with which I am unfamiliar (and cannot access without paying for it), particularly when the sparse details given do not ring true, however the following observations may offer some explanation of the frustration which may have been felt by the controller at the time.
Being instructed to remain outside controlled airspace on first call is standard for all free-calling traffic at Birmingham if the controller cannot deal immediately with the call. This is as a result of a number of infringement incidents where a pilot has considered he has a right to enter the CTA if two-way communication has been initiated. It is not a knee-jerk reaction, rather a defence measure contained in unit instructions.
Birmingham has suffered from a controlled airspace infringement problem for many years, partly as a result of having the Honiley VOR, a major area navigational aid, very inconveniently situated on the main runway final approach at a range of six miles from the airfield. The days of VFR pilots looking out of the window to determine flight path seem to have vanished, replaced by the slavish devotion to needle-following.
Each and every request for zone transit is considered on merit, taking into account traffic density and the impact the planned route may have on Birmingham traffic. The majority of such transits simply wish to travel in the straight line joining A to B, although many will make significant diversion to accommodate the ubiquitous VOR. At the end of the day it's down to track and level versus inbound and outbound traffic.
Birmingham is staffed with the number of ATCOs needed to fulfil our contract with Birmingham International Airport, no more, no fewer. Apart from the final positioning director, there is just one radar controller dealing with all initial calls from arrivals, departures and extraneous traffic as well as carrying out liaison with two en-route centres and adjacent airfields. We manage the Birmingham traffic very nicely, thankyou, this being what pays our salaries. Unfortunately the frequency is often overloaded as a result of calls from the following:-
a) pilots calling for FIS, often for less than two minutes on a short flight, sometimes I suspect just to talk on the "big boys' frequency". Please, if you're that way inclined, go play somewhere else. London FIS on 124.75 for instance.
b) pilots calling for RIS or RAS. Birmingham lies within an area covered by three LARS units, Brize, Shawbury and Cottesmore, all staffed and paid to provide such services. Birmingham is not, has never been, and will never be a LARS unit.
c) pilots calling for zone transit, and here we get back to the original point after my admittedly off-message wanderings. Any transit through HON is going to interfere with IFR airfield movements (430 of them per day at the moment, just in case you think we sit on our backsides doing nothing all day) and possibly the controller involved in this case felt that to plan a transit for training purposes through such a congested area may not have been the brightest idea in the circumstances. If he was as busy as I suspect he may have been (and after 32 years I've seen a few of such sessions) I can understand if he was less than happy at the time.
d) transits which you may consider to be clear of the final approach/departure track may be refused because of environmental reasons involving NPRs. Because of our proximity to large conurbations the airport company are very hot on this, and rightly so.
In summary, I'm sorry you were so shocked by what you read, I'm sorry if the pilot whose experience you report (third-hand with large gaps in the story) was indeed treated rudely. We handle large numbers of transits, and FIS/RIS/RAS requests every day, and have long held a reputation for dealing with the vast majority of such requests to the general satisfaction of our non-paying customers. In return, please try to think beyond the limits of your own cockpit and spare a thought for some very busy guys and gals on the ground. We do our best - try to cut us some slack if we don't always get it spot on.