Parliament spring clean 'endless'

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Cleaning the exterior of the Palace of Westminster - begun 26 years ago - could continue indefinitely, the Lords have been told.

The cleaning of the iconic building entered its "final phase" in 1995 with the cleaning of internal courtyards, but only four have been done so far.

A further four courtyards, described as being in a "filthy, disgraceful condition," still needed to be cleaned.

But Lord Brabazon said: "I cannot give a starting date".

The Palace of Westminster, which houses both the Commons and the Lords, was faced with Anston stone, but it suffered badly in the atmospheric pollution of London, especially in the smog of the 19th and early 20th centuries caused by coal burning.

Since the cleaning programme begun in 1981, the north, west, and south fronts, the river front and Clock Tower have been cleaned.

The cleaning of Victoria Tower, at the opposite end to Big Ben, was completed in 1993.

What is visible to most of the public is clean and will remain so Lord Brabazon

In response to pressure from some members of the House of Lords to name a date, Lord Brabazon said on Wednesday: "The whole of the outside of the building and the major courtyards have been done, so what is visible to most of the public is clean and will remain so."

Lord Janner, who raised the question of cleaning progress in the Lords, asked: "Does he agree that parts of the wall of those courtyards are in a filthy, disgraceful condition and should be dealt with as soon as possible?"

Lord Brabazon said the cleaning had to be prioritised with other Parliament projects such as a new visitor centre, whose opening had been delayed from 2006 due to "all kinds of problems, with the contractors, the architects and so on".

"The cast-iron roofs and the modernisation of the palaces' mechanical and electrical services are two of the major things that need to be done to this ancient building."

He said delays were because cleaning could only be done during Parliamentary recess as it involved repairs to stonework, windows and drainage "which is noisy and disruptive".