BORIS’S BREXIT BONANZA
Downing St plans dazzling light show for January 31 with f lags aplenty (but no Big Ben bongs)
BORIS Johnson has unveiled plans for a light show in Downing Street on Brexit night.
This comes as he has attempted to defuse a row over his failure to get Big Ben to sound that evening.
The Prime Minister will address the nation from inside No 10 as a clock counting down to the moment Britain leaves the EU at 11pm on January 31 is projected on to the outside.
Buildings around Whitehall will be lit up and Union Jacks will be flown in Parliament Square. Leading Tory Eurosceptics dismissed the plan as an inadequate substitute for the Big Ben bell being heard.
No 10 was also forced to defend its decision to stage the countdown in Downing Street, which is not accessible to members of the public.
However, aides insisted that the public will be able to watch it on television and on social media sites such as Facebook.
As part of the official plans to mark the country’s departure from the EU, the commemorative Brexit coin will come into circulation on January 31. The Prime Minister is expected to be one of the first to receive a newly minted 50p piece.
Mr Johnson will hold a special meeting of his Cabinet in the North of England on exit day, when ministers will discuss the Government’s plans to spread prosperity and opportunity across the UK. He will then make a special televised address to the nation in the evening.
It is understood the Prime Minister will use the speech to call for the country to unite and move forward as one.
Sources said Mr Johnson wants Brexit day to be a ‘healing moment’ where old divisions are left behind.
Earlier this week, the Prime Minister claimed the Government was ‘working up a plan so people can bung a bob for a Big Ben bong’.
But Downing Street yesterday admitted that even if £500,000 is raised – the amount Commons authorities have said it will cost to ring the bell – it is still unlikely to happen.
Prominent Brexiteers last night criticised No 10’s newly unveiled proposals for the light show and televised address.
Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘Nothing can replace the bell. No light shows, no laser beams, no “parties”.
‘All the British people really want is for the bell – which has been sounded out in all the key moments of the nation’s history – to chime at 11pm when we leave the EU.’
He added: ‘We don’t need parties or extravagances, we just need to hear that magnificent and sonorous bell.’ Mark Francois, who has led the parliamentary campaign for Big Ben to bong for Brexit, added: ‘These preparations are all very well, but they are no substitute for the most iconic clock in the world chiming out freedom.’
Nigel Farage, who is planning a Brexit night rally in Parliament Square, has accused the Government of being ‘embarrassed’ by Brexit.
This comes as Tory Brexiteers accused the Commons of deliberately inflating the cost of ringing Big Ben on the night of January 31. Figures released yesterday showed it cost just £14,200 to sound the bell on New Year’s Eve and Remembrance Sunday.
But the House of Commons commission has claimed it will cost up to £500,000 to bring Big Ben back into use for Brexit.
The estimate includes £120,000 to build a temporary floor in the belfry and reinstall the temporary ‘bonging’ mechanism. They also said this would delay renovations by up to four weeks at a cost of £100,000 per week.
Fresh doubt was cast on the extraordinary figures yesterday as the cost of bringing the bell back into use on previous occasions were disclosed.
Mr Francois claimed that this proved ‘officials have deliberately inflated’ the £500,000 estimate, and called on Mr Johnson to force officials to ring the bell on Brexit day.