A Parliament of the Many, Not the Few

Today I raised a point of order to the Speaker of the House concerning the House of Commons Commissions decision to start charging for tours of the Clock Tower (Big Ben).

Please read my question and the Speakers response below:

Robert Halfon (Harlow): Would you Mr. Speaker look again at the decision by the House of Commons Commission, to charge people for going up the Clock Tower to see Big Ben? This would cost a family of four up to £60. Are there not other ways of saving money, such as not publishing Hansard and other publications on a daily basis and publishing them on-line? Will you please look at it again, to make sure that we are a Parliament for the many, not the few?"

Speaker of the House of Commons (John Bercow): I am grateful to the Hon. Gentleman for the point of order and for again his courtesy in providing me advance notice of it. It would of course be unthinkable to charge members of the public for access to the proceedings of the House or its Committees, or indeed to meet their Members of Parliament. However, what I would say to the Hon. Gentleman and to the House is that Clock Tower tours are special tours, allowing access to an area of the Palace, which realistically, cannot be open to all. The charges agreed by the House of Commons Commission are set at a level which will cover the costs, I emphasise, which will cover the costs of providing these tours. No profit will be made. I hope that this reassures the Hon. Gentleman."

I have written about this topic before. Please click HERE to read my earlier post. 

by Robert Halfon - Working Hard for Harlow.