Nigel Farage's reaction to House of Commons' statement on Big Ben bong cost

15 January 2020, 19:55

This was Nigel Farage's reaction to the statement he was sent by the House of Commons explaining why getting Big Ben to bong for Brexit will cost so much.

The House of Commons statement responded to a call Nigel Farage took yesterday rubbishing the Big Ben bong costs.

It read:

“The statement by “Mike” is inaccurate. His comments do not take into account the extent of the work needed and the cost and delay to the overall programme Parliament’s expert team of clock mechanics have disconnected Big Ben from the clock mechanism, when the clock was removed for restoration.

To ring the bells now require a temporary mechanism to be installed, connected to the clock, and tested before Big Ben can be struck.  Work on the floor in the belfry, which recommenced on 2 January and was carefully scheduled to commence after New Year’s Eve to not interfere with work, will also be impacted.

The work includes removing the entire floor in the belfry to investigate its current condition and finalise the scope of works; which may include significant structural works, resurfacing and waterproofing.

This work will not be completed by 31 January, which is why a temporary floor would need to be installed and then removed.

The final cost will depend on the scale and nature of the disruption to the works. In broad terms, the estimated cost is £120,000 to sound the bell, plus circa £100,000 for each week of delays.

This estimate is based on the fixed cost of installing, testing, operating and dismantling the temporary mechanism used to sound the bell during the works, plus an allowance for each week that work on the project is delayed.”