Editorials

Tour of The Houses of Parliament

27 August 2016

By Lois

This Friday, my grandparents and I went on a guided tour around the Houses of Parliament and though I sadly did not happen upon an encounter with Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn, I did feel they were there in spirit, so not all was lost. In fact, it was amazing to be in a place where you know so much history has taken place, and to be able to stand where you know some of the people you admire most have stood. The experience fanned the flames of my own aspirations as much as you would expect a trip to a gallery to inspire an artist, or a trip to the theatre an aspiring actor.

Our tour guide was an extremely well-spoken lady named Ingrid, who had an ability to relay numbers and dates with the best of them, and it seemed she had an interesting fact for every room we entered. (One of my favourite anecdotes involved the rather odd tradition that when the Queen goes to Parliament to deliver her yearly Queen’s speech, the staff at Buckingham Palace – for reasons unclear – are afraid she will be kidnapped and held at Parliament against her will. Therefore, a Lord is sent to Buckingham Palace to serve as a kind of preventative hostage who cannot return to the House of Lords until the Queen has been safely returned to the Palace. Since the Queen is yet to be kidnapped, it is considered a very effective method.) Of course I would not have expected less, despite some of the slightly off-putting entries to the Everyday Sexism Project website, which told of offhand sexist comments from guides (cook books in the gift shop for the girls, lazy stereotypes about women being indecisive, etc.), and indeed our guide seemed to go quite entirely the other way, highlighting some of the great strides women had made, and what setbacks they have faced within Parliament.

Visiting the very centre of British politics really highlighted for me some of the frankly odd quirks and traditions (see above) that we have developed over the years and which give us our character. I really loved hearing about how we have upheld these traditions, in spite of how we may have outgrown them, and the stories behind the symbolism. It brings home what it is that sets us apart from other countries; not necessarily in a good or bad way, just the little things that combine to make our identity. Hearing about it, I began to understand some of the stereotypes other countries have established about our way of doing things. The huge rooms laced with gilded wallpaper and statues; floor to ceiling paintings depicting our greatest feats on the battlefield, and our now crumbled empire. Every room in the ancient Neo-Gothic building stressed the importance of our strong monarchy and our faith in God and religious values which led to the power the British Empire did once wield. Every room was purpose-built to show our strength and wealth. The magnificent arched windows and detailed and elaborate portraits that lined the rooms were truly beautiful; in fact, the portraits depicting the Tudor dynasty (for of course they have a room of their own) seemed to really glow with the turbulent history behind them.

Inevitably, some of the archaic pomp and piety does seem terribly outdated, although as long as our politics continues to grow and renew, why not keep alive some of the grandeur? It’s not really hurting anyone and it seems to really set us apart. Individuality within any culture is surely something to be celebrated, especially in the face of expansion of American Culture within our society. It would be dangerous to fall behind the times, and a progressive country such as ours should be leading the way for other countries in bringing about as much positive change to race issues, gender equality and LBGT+ issues as is possible, as well as leading the discussion around class and the eradication of elitism and poverty. But if we can do that – as I hope one day we will – why not indulge in a little bit of tradition? Why not celebrate our colourful history, as long as we can recognise where we made mistakes and fell behind? The Palace of Westminster is undeniably beautiful and serves as a reminder of how great we once were, and should be now – if in a very different way. I expect my country to be fair and kind and just, and it is times like this, as we are plunged into near crisis again and again, that we must struggle hardest to maintain these values.

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