PARLIAMENT - “IT’S OSSUM!”
I was recently invited by a friend to attend a little talk in one of the committee rooms in the House of Commons at Westminster.
Did you bring a copy of the notes? I forgot mine...
The room looked exactly the same as the one where The Murdochs were recently quizzed. There were three fixed-position television cameras that I could see in the room (which, incidentally, was much smaller than I had imagined) which is why they didn’t pan when a cream pie was pushed in Murdock, Sr’s face!
After passing through a security check where they take your pic and issue a pass,
The image is worse than my psaaport!
there’s a short walk which takes you into the extraordinary Great Hall. This alone is worth the visit. It has a terrific history which is told in a semi-graphic form as you enter. Booklets are available to take away including the indispensable “Parliament And You” visitor guide and map. As well as that you’ll need “This Week’s Business” which tells you what’s being discussed such as “Oral Questions” , Select Committees and so forth.
There'll be more chimes in 53 minutes....
After the talk that I was attending, I re-visited the little souvenir kiosk on the way out. It is manned in a desultory manner, and features all manner of grotesque and twee “gifts” that, in my view, are best avoided and not to waste one’s money on, unless you really MUST have a bottle of “Mr. Speaker’s Scotch”.
It’s free to go in, and if you see the light on at the top of the clock tower that houses Big Ben (even late at night) you can go in to see and hear your MP discussing matters such as Defence, Northern Ireland Affairs, or even – if you are especially fortunate, Tourism in Yorkshire! All being discussed that week.
Suprise me - what's in the bag?
Passing back into the Great Hall on my way out , I heard an American lady gushing that it was “ossum!”.
It's great!
Quite so.
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