One of the best parts of my job is getting to show Pendle residents around our iconic Parliament, a Grade-1 listed building, UNESCO heritage stage and royal palace. I welcomed over 50 last month to show them the home of our democracy and look forward to receiving many more visitors.
However, the current building was built in the 1840s after the old one burned down and is showing its age. It urgently needs extensive maintenance work. On Thursdays, MPs debated what to do about it. According to a report by a joint committee of the Lords and Commons the building is, “at substantial and growing risk of either a single catastrophic event, such as a major fire, or a succession of incremental failures in essential systems which would lead to Parliament no longer being able to occupy the Palace”.
Doing nothing would be irresponsible, so there are three realistic options. Either Parliament stays while works go on, it partly relocates with the Commons then the Lords taking turns somewhere else, or complete evacuation. As this was classed as “House Business” it was a free vote issue for MP’s with no party “whip” in operation.
On Wednesday night, I voted for Parliament to stay and for several reasons. Primarily because, I am deeply concerned about what the cost of moving out of the Palace of Westminster will be. The taxpayer will as ever have to pay and I do not think now is the time for MPs to sign a black cheque for our Parliament when we have so many more important issues to deal with.
We have had a Parliament on the site for hundreds of years. It continued in the current building throughout the Second World War despite the Commons Chamber being burnt to the ground. I therefore cannot see why repairs cannot be carried out whilst we remain in the building.
Ultimately in the votes on Wednesday night my side lost the argument and MP’s across the House voted for the “full decant” option and the total refurbishment of Parliament. This won’t happen overnight, in fact it probably won’t happen for several years, but the decision has been taken.