I can't quite believe these costs, how the **** do you get to £40 million to repair a clock?
Flog it to the Yanks and build a new one, as for losing international face, we are already a laughing stock, it's high time the berks on the benches started to think about the poor souls who have to live on this infested little lump of rock and stop thinking of wasting £40+ million on a big 'orrible clock.

... and breathe

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-34565724

The £40m includes more than just the clock, do you work for the Mirror or Guardian, perhaps even the Socialist Worker,? your post is what's known as selective posting Taz  my PC is slightly to the right of Genghis
2012 HSE SD4 In Orkney Grey now gone, best car ever.

Neither, just trying to stir up a conversation

Yeah, and I bet you wouldn't spend money on Trident, HS2 or ID cards either!!

Trident is good, spent many a happy hour at HMS Vulcan working on the kit that delivers them

Oops should have read Trident replacement! Personally not sure if it is the right way to spend somewhere between £10b to £100b, depending on who you listen to. Looks like clock repair is small beer!

£40M is small by today's standards, they will just add the costs to the ever expanding debt to which no one seems to own, beyond the reasoning of us mere mortals.
£40M on a clock, get Rolex to do it and emblazon their name across it

That's a bit steep just to put it back an hour. 21MY Defender 90 S 3.0 D200

Would it not be cheaper to just replace the mechanism inside with a Rolex/Casio mechanism and employ a polish worker to hit the bell every hour a few times Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

I thought that Big Ben is actually just the name of the bell, the entity is called St Stephens Tower. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
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But 90% of the people who think what he on about  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

It is indeed, the clock is the 'great Westminster clock' housed along with the bell 'Big Ben' inside St Stephens Tower.

St Stephens , in that case make the church pay, I doubt Stephen has the funds At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

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Oh they will soon come up with 40 million for that, havent they just given China 5 million to practice playing football?
Plus 380 million a week to the EU.
As long as it doesnt actually benefit the British person moneys no object it seems.

Not to mention £xbillion to repair the Houses of parliament.

I can hear the call of 'times of austerity' ringing in my ears at the moment when any politician justifies cutting public sector funds. Touche I say. Build a purpose built 21st century affair somewhere in the midlands and put the savings into a few more nurses or firemen or police.

Then they can sell the Houses of Parliament off to the private sector