mostly david ephgrave

Today I turned tourist by taking an audio tour of Parliament (and a visual one too as I was there), taking in both the House of Commons and House of Lords, followed by afternoon tea on the terrace by the Thames. I visited the Palace of Westminster once before when my wife and I climbed Big Ben (from the inside), though we only viewed the two Houses from the gallery back then as government was in session. That trip was fascinating enough (I even announced at the time, “I’ve had enough fascination”) though the emphasis was more on the clock tower, so it was great to be able explore the rest in more detail. As is often the case with visiting a place you’ve seen on television, everything's far smaller than you’d expect (if I'm not being too presumptuous) with the exception of Westminster Hall. I was struck when I stood at the Opposition’s despatch box* by how unthreatening the Commons felt from the point of view of someone speaking to the room , though it's probably...