Let's Get Rid

[poliphilo]

The Palace of Westminster is horrible.  The rooms are badly lit and the corridors smell of cabbage. True, medieval Gothic is about letting in as much light as possible.  Victorian gothic- the style in which the Palace is built-  is about creating an atmosphere of faux-ancestral gloom.  Pugin- the man responsible for all the finicky detail- who is now- for reasons that escape me- revered as a design god-  plastered the insides  with a special wallpaper dotted with big, black portcullises- the ugliest, most oppressive thing imaginable- and it's still in place. When it rots they restore it.

But the time for patchwork repairs is past.  We demand change.  The ghormenghastliness of Westminster immures our politicians in a fantasy world, shutting them in and us out, encouraging boysiness and petty corruption. We should hand the building over to Tussauds or the London Dungeon (I recognise that demolition is not an option) and build Parliament a new house- preferably in the Midlands and preferably with glass walls- like the Welsh Assembly- so that We the People can stand outside and watch the little buggers at work.

Comments

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

Agreed - it would make a great museum. I got a tour of the building once and it is tiny and cramped and parochial.

I've also been round the Scottish Parliament and it seemed much better, the modern vibe gives the place a feeling of purpose and direction rather than an emphasis on the fuddy duddy maintenance of tradition.

Somewhere like my old home town of Stoke on Trent would be ideal. Central for access for all parts of the country, close to the M6 and well connected by rail, away from the chocolate boxy rich towns of the south and bang in the middle of urban deprivation to keep people centred on the issues.

Second homes would be pretty cheap too.

[(Anonymous)]

I think you're annoyed that they're in the power club while you are on the outside, subject to their whims. The overall tone is "it's not fair". Perhaps you should have become an MP? :)
Tom F

[oakmouse]

"Ghormenghastliness".

LOL! I love it. Perfect description.

[craftyailz.livejournal.com]

And those poor clerical workers in the basement. When we visited, it reminded me of a very, very old hotel. The floors squeaked, like said above it smelt of cabbage, the lift smelt bad and the room we went into - a committee room - was damp (it was late autumn) and it just felt so tired and otherwordly. Portcullis House on the other hand has lots of open space and the trees that are in their help to improve the atmosphere.