There is something deeply unsightly about the Queen towering over Parliament

So the tower housing Big Ben is to be renamed Elizabeth Tower, at the request of MPs. How craven the commons has become. One could be forgiven for thinking that the queen’s four palaces render sufficient glory unto our monarch to satisfy our royalist compatriots. Indeed one could be forgiven for thinking that the Palace of Westminster was intended, in some way, to glorify the accountable and  representative element of our constitution.

But apparently not. The grandest structure on the parliamentary estate will now be named after the queen. The monarch will tower over the commons. No longer, it would seem, are parliamentarians proud to think of themselves as elected representatives, and as a check upon her majesty’s government. All too aware of their limited popularity, and their inability to enthuse, they seek to reflect upon  themselves the mystique of hereditary position.

To contact Reuben email reuben@thethirdestate.net