Repair of Britain's crumbling symbol of democracy faces more delay

Scratch the iconic view and the real picture emerges. As the baton passed from Boris Johnson to Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak in 2022, an extensive report highlighted the billions of pounds needed over decades to undertake repair and restoration work urgently needed in the Palace of Westminster by the Thames, which has been the centre of power for over 900 years. A Unesco world heritage site and the seat of what is widely known as the ‘mother of parliaments’, it is also a popular selfie point for hundreds of thousands of tourists from various vantage points on and around the Westminster Bridge. But take a closer look or go around its rooms and corridors and you see various stages of decay and decline.

Few legislature buildings with such living heritage have witnessed so much, for so long and had such influence across the globe, as history unfolded around it over the centuries – and perhaps there is none in such need of repair and restoration. But despite concern, warnings and reports over recent decades, there are yet no signs that work will begin anytime soon.

Since 2017, there have been over 40,000 problems reported, including 40 occasions since 2008 when the palace caught fire. A fire-safety team patrols the palace for several years, every hour of every day, since it does not meet standards of modern fire-safety. Some fear the building could be ‘another Notre Dame’, recalling the fire that engulfed the Paris cathedral on April 15, 2019. Experts believe the structure is deteriorating faster than it can be repaired; some systems and components installed centuries ago are still in use; and maintaining its current state alone costs millions of pounds per week.

The Big Ben within the palace complex was covered in scaffolding in recent years, its restoration work is nearing completion, but the main building is the key challenge: it has a floor-plate the size of 16 football pitches, with 1,100 rooms, 100 staircases, 4.8 km of passageways, four floors and 65 different levels. The oldest building is the Westminster Hall, which has been the scene of major moments in Britain’s political life, built by William II over 900 years ago, when it was considered the largest hall in Europe.

The extensive report released earlier this year reflects the scale of work needed under two options: to undertake repair while work of both houses of parliament continues inside the palace, or to repair it after emptying it and moving the houses and parliament’s work elsewhere (called ‘full decant’). Its estimate suggests a huge difference in the costs and time needed under the two options: £22 billion and 76 years in the first, and a cost between £7 billion and £13 billion over a period between 12 and 20 years in the second – both estimates without incorporating inflation.

Much debate has happened on how best to repair the building, but MPs, lords, parliamentary officials and experts continue to be divided on how best to proceed with the work needed. Two bodies were formed in 2020 to deliver the repair and restoration, but they have been abolished by parliamentary authorities and a new approach, mandate and governance structure proposed this year, adding to more indecision and delay.

- The writer is a senior journalist based in London