Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Big Ben and the triviality of UK politics
Those who believe that MPs might have better things to do than hold a vigil for the chimes of Big Ben, may be heartened to learn that the obsession with the clock tower is not unique to our era.
I am currently coming to the end of Roy Jenkins' extremely erudite 631 page account of the life of William Gladstone. In my reading I came upon a rather intriguing footnote.
Some research on Google soon confirmed, as seen in this extract from the New Yorker that Lord Curzon once requested that the chimes of Big Ben should be silenced at night so as not to disturb his sleep in the nearby Carlton Club.
I am currently coming to the end of Roy Jenkins' extremely erudite 631 page account of the life of William Gladstone. In my reading I came upon a rather intriguing footnote.
Some research on Google soon confirmed, as seen in this extract from the New Yorker that Lord Curzon once requested that the chimes of Big Ben should be silenced at night so as not to disturb his sleep in the nearby Carlton Club.
Parliamentarians had far more class in those days.
