Its Going To Take Billions To Renovate The Houses Of Parliament

[emmie]

could the money be better spent?

[Old_Geezer]

When the alternative is to let it rot then of course it is an inevitable bill. If it cost that much now it must be because the maintenance wasn't paid for in the past when it should have been done.

[mikey4444]

From what I have seen, parts of the Palace of Westminster are not only rotting away, but they are positively dangerous.

This place belongs to us all....of course it should be repaired !

[naomi24]

It should be repaired.

[pastafreak]

It should be preserved...if only for its historic and architectural value. Such a magnificent looking structure.

[whiskeryron]

Exactly where is the (HP) sauce produced ?

[whiskeryron]

If it is in the Chamber, we had one of those under our bed years ago.

[RobNorth]

This is all just hubris. There are many hundreds of large buildings like this, including most town halls, museums etc. which are about the same age. Are we going to gut all of these and have years of "refurbishment and modernisation"? I don't think so.....MP's are going to do this because they can.
Lesser mortals have something called "maintenance" and those having to plan and work around it have Hobsons Choice - rightly.
When you reckon up the few days per year in which the place actually works it could be reconditioned piecemeal without too much problem,
but these folk are far too important for that, they want to deal in big numbers!

[naomi24]

It has to be preserved. It's iconic.

This from the Westminster website:

//The Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey, including St Margaret’s Church was inscribed as a cultural World Heritage Site in 1987.

The inclusion of this group of buildings on the world heritage list makes them one of 981 sites worldwide considered to have ‘Outstanding Universal Value’ as part of the world’s cultural and natural heritage. The ‘Statement of Outstanding Universal Value’, sets out the qualities and characteristics of the site which make it internationally important.//

[pastafreak]

It's a prime example of Victorian Gothic architecture...designed by Barry and Pugin-one of the greatest designers of the period. It is iconic and impossible to put a value on such a building as it is one of a kind. A few levels above so many other buildings of the period. Not to say they too should not be preserved...Too many have been destroyed because of convenience. Plymouth,where I live,is a prime example...All its character removed in the post war aim to modernize.

[DTCwordfan]

if they save anything, then the Palace of Westminster....could always move the royals back in there and put the MPs in the Lord Buckingham sandwich bar,

[RobNorth]

Yes, it's a World Heritage Site - all the more reason why it should be sympathetically repaired slowly rather than ripped apart by a thousand different sub-conractors falling over each other and rushing to meet deadlines. The more naive among us have no concept of what can happen on projects like this when the whiff of big money is in the air...
After meticulous planning, you can and will, still end up with sub-sub-sub contractors on the job who have no briefing or any real idea of what they are doing.

[CrapAtCryptics]

Develop a site slap bang in the middle of the country so that its a state of the art facility worthy of a parliament - security etc would be much easier to enforce. Probably improve the employment in that area also. Spending good money refurbishing a place not fit for purpose and hard to protect is just plain stupid.

[DTCwordfan]

//Develop a site slap bang in the middle of the country//...Scotland, perhaps?

[CrapAtCryptics]

One for DTC - since when has Scotland been slap bang in the middle of the country - and they may not be with us much longer anyway if the ginger haired one gets her way.

[RobNorth]

Crapatcryptic - Taking say Coventry as the middle of the country, this would be an ideal place for a new Parliament which could be sited conveniently close to the airport, railway etc.
Which is precisely why it will never be done - it's not in London!
Apart from the obvious cultural barrier the very idea of spending what would be billions on a building outside of London is preposterous!!