Westminster is broken – literally
Welcome to parliament new MPs – now please vote to kick yourselves out so the building can be restored, before it’s too late, writes Emma Revell
Labour are making a lot of noise about the mess they’ve inherited from the Tories. But there’s one issue that’s messier than almost any other, and where tough decisions have been dodged and deferred again and again – the Houses of Parliament themselves.
The brutal truth is that the Palace of Westminster is broken. Not in a ‘faith in politicians falls to new low’ kind of way. In a ‘the building is structurally unsound and if this was any other workplace you’d be dragged to court for numerous workplace health and safety violations’ kind of way.
Since 2016, there have been 44 ‘fire incidents’ on the parliamentary estate. The clerks report with some confidence that the building could be evacuated if a fire broke out, but that the building would be ‘unlikely’ to be saved. There are believed to be as many as 2,500 sites containing asbestos, with dozens of parliamentary staff apparently on watch-lists for years because of potential exposure. In December 2023, it was revealed authorities had spent more than £54,000 trying to rid the estate of pests – including mice, rats, birds, and foxes.
And the worst part is, none of this is new. According to the Parliament website, “[a]fter more than two decades of discussion, in 2017 the House of Commons voted to renew the Palace of Westminster”. So there is no question that restoration and repairs are necessary. The roadblocks are the cost, and the ego of parliamentarians who do not wish to see their terms coincide with a decant to a less illustrious government building or, god forbid, conference venue.
A full decant is the cheapest way to get the repairs done, however. As Big Ben was silenced to save the ears of workers repairing and modernising the Elizabeth Tower several years ago, the safest and cheapest way to do the necessary repairs is to move everyone off-site. That could be the difference between a £13bn restoration and a £22bn one, with the latter taking an estimated 70 years.
Still, the idea of catastrophe befalling our most recognisable building is shockingly plausible. Running repairs already cost taxpayers £2m per week and scaffolding and nets permanently surround the base of Victoria Tower, such is the prevalence of falling masonry. Faulty wiring and leaking pipes dating back to beyond the Second World War put those who work and visit Parliament in danger every day – not to mention the irreplaceable, historical archives contained within.
In 2019, when a fire began in Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral, it took only 90 minutes for flames to engulf the building and for its iconic spire to collapse. Like the Palace of Westminster, the building had been a marked fire risk for years and fire wardens inspected conditions in the roof three times a day. Not even the sight of Our Lady’s charred remains could spur politicians into committing to a full decant of Parliament to enable renovation and restoration.
Renovation is possible. Earlier this year I decided to book a tour of the Elizabeth Tower, having worked in its shadow throughout the entire restoration project. With the repeated warnings about needing to be physically fit enough to tackle the 334 steps up, I was envisioning gasping my last on a rickety wooden staircase but I needn’t have worried. The renovation gave Parliamentary authorities the chance to fit out the Tower with several rooms full of educational displays, and most importantly benches, where you sit and listen to tour guides passionately relay the history of Britain’s most famous bell. Your arrival at Big Ben is timed perfectly, a few minutes to the hour so you can take in the sights before popping in earplugs and feeling the vibration as the five bells ring out across London. Investment in the Tower has not only secured its long-term future but allowed the public to get even closer to the history.
Parliamentarians have responsibilities to their constituents and their party but also, above all, to their country. Yes, many MPs elected for the first time last month will have been awed, entering the Palace of Westminster and realising they have the privilege to call that incredible building their office. But unless they wish to deny that privilege to any who may come after them, using this parliamentary session to finally sign off safeguarding our most striking national symbol is the least they can do – before it’s too late.
Emma Revell is external affairs director at the Centre for Policy Studies