A Memorable Visit

The Member of Parliament for Stafford, Mr Jeremy Lefroy, has been arranging visits to the Houses of Parliament for those of his constituents who would like to be shown around.   A coach was organised by his office staff so that the visit started and ended up in the middle of Stafford and we just needed to pay for our seats on the coach and be at the departure site in good time.

Last Friday was the hottest day of the year so far and the air conditioning on the coach gave a false impression of outside conditions.  We stepped out of the coach in London at a building called Portcullis House, situated on the other side of the road from the Palace of Westminster, and found that it was a very hot day - blue skies, brilliant sunshine and crowds of tourists.

Big Ben - now called the Elizabeth Tower - just visible over the top of Portcullis House

 As we had time to spare before we met up with our MP, we went to a café situated in the Palace of Westminster, next to Westminster Hall. 

The stained glass window, presented in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and situated in Westminster Hall.

In order to get into the building we had to go through ‘airport type security’, and then we were given day passes.  After we had lunched we needed to move from the Jubilee Café to another building, Portcullis House, where we would meet up with our MP.  The only way to get from one place to the other was to leave the grounds of the parliament building, and walk along the public roads.

So, when we arrived at Portcullis House we had to go through the security procedure again, and I now had two day passes.  We met with Jeremy in a meeting room and he gave a talk about the day to day procedures of Parliament, and then he invited questions.  I asked how he could persuade a standard rate tax payer to vote for politicians who gave a ten per cent tax cut to the top tax band and no reduction to the lower tax bands (austere times – we’re all in it together!!)  I got a politician’s answer so I am no wiser.

After the question and answer session it was time to tour the Palace of Westminster  which we reached by going through a tunnel which went under the road, linking Portcullis House to the main buildings – so we avoided another security check.

Our guide, gave an informative and entertaining talk as we moved from Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the building, through St Stephen’s Hall and the central lobby and then into the House of Common’s debating chamber.  We finished our tour by visiting the gift shop and then a refreshment break before we had to start on the journey back to Stafford.

There was so much to see and we could only scratch the surface, so we hope to visit again and perhaps the next time, see the debating chamber of the House of Lords, listen in on a debate, and perhaps go into the Elizabeth Tower (formerly Big Ben), and climb to the top.

A good time was had by all – thank you Jeremy Lefroy. 

Not a part of the visit, but we saw the London Eye from where the coach was parked - Happy Days