Bong! May orders Berco at plan to silence Big Ben

PLANS to silence Big Ben for four years could be scrapped after Theresa May intervened in the row yesterday.

The Prime Minister said it ‘can’t be right’ for the bells to be silenced for so long and ordered Commons Speaker John Bercow to look again at the proposals urgently.

She said she wanted the Great Bell’s bongs to be heard as restoration work is carried out. Parliamentary authorities were then forced into a U-turn and said the House of Commons Commission led by Mr Bercow would review the decision when MPs return from recess.

Mrs May’s comments came after a growing cross-party revolt by politicians who said they had no idea they had signed off on a plan to stop the chimes because of health and safety fears. They expressed anger at the length of time allocated for the refurbishment of the Elizabeth Tower which will silence the bells to protect workers’ hearing.

It would be the longest period Big Ben has been silenced in its history stretching back to 1859, and is set to begin after noon on Monday. Mrs May flew back early from her walking holiday in Switzerland yesterday to greet sailors on HMS Queen Elizabeth as the aircraft carrier arrived at her new home in Portsmouth.

Speaking on board the carrier she said: ‘Of course we want to ensure people’s safety at work but it can’t be right for Big Ben to be silent for four years. And I hope that the Speaker, as the chairman of the House of Commons Commission, will look into this urgently so that we can ensure that we can continue to hear Big Ben through those four years.’

As it still remained unclear who gave the go-ahead for the timescale, it emerged that the renovation project was only meant to take 26 months. The duration date was specified in a 2016 contract drawn up by officials.

But yesterday parliamentary officials said the project could last even longer than four years, meaning Big Ben could be out of action beyond 2021.

A Commons spokesman said: ‘The programme of works is expected to complete by 2021. We have built contingencies into the process but it is possible this complex conservation programme may be subject to delay due to factors beyond our control.’

Officials had defended the plan to silence the bongs, insisting workers’ hearing would be at serious risk and those using scaffold-