In times of austerity is this money well spent?

[pdq1]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/.../uk-politics-19386492

With Big Ben looking like the Tower of Pisa something should be done!

[Gromit]

They should sell it to Wetherspoons and build a new one, preferably more centrally in the country.

[humbersloop]

^ noo gromit!

otherwise we'll have all the southerners round

[Canary42]

Just like the expenses fiasco - MPs feathering their own nests out of the hard-hit taxpayers' money. Greedy monsters.

[boxtops]

LOL, it didn't look like that last time I went past!

[HowardKennitby]

It has been known for many decades that the Palace of Westminster is well past its sell-by date. There are not sufficient offices for all MPs to have an office space. I believe some of them are now in Portcullis House.

It's a bit like the FA rebuilding Wembley or the SFA renovating Hampden Park or the SRU rebuilding Murrayfield. Anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together would have sold these sites and built from scratch somewhere better.

So it goes.

[eyethenkyew]

If it's going to cost £3bn to refurbish it because some of them are frightened of the mice, I could loan them my moggies for a damned sight less!

[boxtops]

Perhaps they would convert it for affordable housing....

[Prudie]

Yes it's a national treasure and should be maintained.

[emmie]

no one is going to schlep to Birmingham or wherever central is, to take snaps of a civic building or wherever the politicians can debate.
it's an iconic building, Grade listed, it would be well worth the money to restore or make safe. It's only a proposal at this stage, so may well not happen.

[anotheoldgit]

One could say why are the even more hard-up Greeks spending money repairing The Parthenon?

http://mw2.google.com...s/medium/32743286.jpg

[emmie]

i'm all for shoving the politicians out of Parliament and sending them on a slow boat to china, but that as they say is a different story.

[emmie]

The Parthenon problems are largely man made, pollution primarily, sometimes it's been so smog bound you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. It is also an iconic building and they wouldn't i am sure let it go to rot.

[pdq1]

I surprised Boxtops no one else has picked up on the picture showing Big Ben leaning over. The report also said it was leaning.

[mushroom25]

if it were sold off it would be worth millions to a developer as a swanky hotel or luxury apartment building, and a purpose-built out-of-town parliamentary centre could easily be built using the proceeeds.

although, the protracted gestation period and the ten-times original budget cost overrun of the scottish parliament building should serve as an example from which to learn.