Last Monday, several hundreds of people gathered — within and outside the walls of Parliament — to hear Big Ben, the 13.7-tonne bell that plays the note E on the hour every day within the Palace of Westminster’s iconic Elizabeth Tower. The tower must undergo an essential £29 million restoration work, and in order to protect workers close to it and up the 100-metre high scaffolding around it from its 118 decibel “bong”, the bell — and its four accompanying ones — will be put out of action for up to four years. Much thought has gone into the process, including ensuring that the Great Clock will always have one visible face during the entire renovation project, while the bell would be allowed to operate on certain significant dates such as New Year’s Eve and Remembrance Sunday.

“Parliament has a duty of care to those on site, and our priority is to ensure the safety of those carrying out the work and in the immediate vicinity,” said the Parliamentary Estate, noting that stopping and starting its operation simply wasn’t possible as it was a lengthy process that took a half day to complete and would not be a good use of public money. The work includes measures to prevent the clock mechanism from failing, the installation of a lift and the tackling of decay to the inside and outside of the clock.

Nevertheless, the move provoked an outcry from politicians from across the spectrum, at a time when issues around nationalism are particularly strong with Britain preparing to leave the European Union. One right wing commentator noted that in the four years the work was set to take place, Britain could have got two Brexit deals, while it had managed to “liberate Europe” in just 11 months during the Second World War.

May steps in

David Davis, the Minister in charge of Brexit who campaigned heavily to leave the European Union, described the decision to silence the bell for four years as “mad”. “There is hardly a health and safety argument,” he added. While one Liberal Democrat MP called for a review of the options (including potentially ringing the bell manually), even Prime Minister Theresa May waded into the debate by urging the speaker of the House of Commons Commission to look into the issue urgently to ensure Britain could “continue to hear Big Ben through those four years”.

Yet others urged for those carrying out the works to ensure the bell was able to strike on March 29, 2019, as Britain would exit the EU. “It would be symbolically uplifting for it to sound out our departure from the EU as a literally ringing endorsement of democracy,” Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg told the Daily Mail last week. However, many also deplored the emphasis on the issue.

“Wish those MPs who are causing such a fuss were equally vocal about food banks, the GP (general practice) crisis and harsh cuts (in public expenditure),” wrote Labour MP Luke Pollard, while others drew comparisons with the treatment of the horrific events at Grenfell Tower. “Would like to see an infographic for the number of MPs who stood outside for Big Ben versus the number who went to Grenfell,” wrote another on Twitter. Greg Jenner, a historian, pointed to the fact that not only was the bell not that old (it dated back to 1859), it had fallen silent on a number of occasions, including throughout the First World War (most recently it was silenced for six weeks for restoration work in 2007).

Whatever happens next, the controversy has stirred up sufficient interest to potentially force a rethink. The House of Commons Commission said it would reconsider the length of time the bells would fall silent.