The Palace of Westminster is a historic building. It is a magnificent and awe-inspiring edifice. Its age, though, can have its problems, not least in terms of maintenance.
This appeared this week on the parliamentary intranet:
Flooding in Peers’ Lobby
29 Jul 2008
Following Monday’s flooding in the Peers’ Lobby, tours have now resumed using the entire line-of-route.
Magnificence is occasionally tempered by the realities of age. That, I hasten to add, is a reference to the building and not the members.
Lord Norton,
Not only is the Palace a historic building it also forms part of the Westminster World Heritage Site.
I vividly remember my first visit inside the building and how I felt it had been designed deliberately to ‘shock and awe.’ Given all the gilt and ornate decoration I also felt it was the campest club in town. But that is another story.
I might also add that lots of members of the Upper House are, in my view, most magnificent whatever their age.
Howridiculous.
Howridiculous: the magnificence of the building may be affected by age, but with the members some become more magnificent with age.