Sell The Palace Of Westminster....

[mushroom25]

...and move parliament to manchester....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-37320450

makes sense doesn't it? the current building is falling down but if sold to developers it'd be worth billions as luxury apartments and the government wouldn't be saddled with the repair cost. plus if parliament were moved to a big shed warehouse site near the M6, it would be 100% more accessible to many more visitors, as well as being easy to get to for MPs and civil servants alike.

win win, surely?

[agchristie]

Before I read the link I immediately thought BBC and Salford!

Regarding Westminster,there are definitely a few museum pieces.They are to be found asleep on the back benches..

[Zacs-Master]

It will never happen. De-centralising government and losing an iconic building, not to mention trying to persuade MPs and in particular the PM, to move up t'north is unworkable if not unthinkable.

[Old_Geezer]

Daft idea. Our government is a result of years of history and needs a palace that links to that and does it justice. Not some modern block miles from the capital city.

Mind you, if the price was "right" I wouldn't put it past a Tory government to sell it off. Probably find a private office tower block at lowest rent to use instead.

[ichkeria]

I don't see why we'd want more visitors. Apart from the security aspect, it's main function is a parliament not a tourist attraction, or at least it would hardly be much of an attraction reborn in a shed off the M6 (!)

[Old_Geezer]

Graham Stringer, MP for Blackley and Broughton

Maybe hoping to be able to go home for lunch ?

[agchristie]

Stringer is a very forthright chap.He was one of the first to publicly call for Gordon Brown to resign and lamented Ed Milliband's GE campaign as 'unprofessional'!

It would certainly suit him nicely if the base was in Manchester!

[Hopkirk]

It isn't April 1st already, is it?

[agchristie]

DB > Any MPs who needed accommodation near the new HQ could be put up in some nearby earmarked for demolition ex council (sink) estate. Sorted.

Except that nobody would be prepared to slum it and we would have another expenses scandal on a far grander scale! :)

[jourdain2]

Quite seriously, it would be good for the country if Parliament moved out of London and understood the rest of its responsibilities better.

I would suggest Birmingham or Sheffield as being more central and directly on the M1. On the whole I would pick Sheffield because Birmingham is already horribly huge and Sheffield has room to expand near to the M1.

The current Palace of Westminster could still house Government Departments and keep its tourist status. n Another advantage is that 'Halls of Residence' could be built reasonable cheaply near to Sheffield (or Birmingham) and thereby do away with the vexed '2nd home expenses' question. Sitting MPs would have a right to a 2-bed flat on site and anything else is at their expense.

[Togo]

Move the comfy smug M.P's out and fill the place with illegal immigrants and refoogeeys. Teach the half baked chancers. The place is already half full of Scottish trots anyway, move the whole shooting match to Manchester and let London become Londonistan in quick order. Save us a fortune.

[agchristie]

£4b is a hell of a lot to fork out for repairs.

Can it be put down to the amount of rot generated from the walls within?

[ToraToraTora]

more ammo for the anti British. Fix it we spend multiples of what it would cost on WSS annually. Fix it. end of.

[anotheoldgit]

Maybe we could get it done on the cheap if we used the Eastern European work force that we have imported into the country?

[ichkeria]

Does the Palace of Westminster house govt departments? I thought that was Whitehall ...
I guess with the referendum over its back to joining Jeremy Corbyn in our contempt for our own MPs :-)

[Gromit]

Be it The Palace of Westminster or Whitehall, both are not fit for purpose. No modernisation, retro fit, or restoration is going to make these workspaces condusive to a modern business environment. So spending £4billion on the wrong building is a complete waste of money.

The voting chamber should remain in the capital, but there is no reason the many Government departments cannot be redistributed to every edge of the UK. Electronic communication means that expensive office space in London is a gross waste of money. The job can be done in the regions, cheaper and equally as efficient.