Commons Speaker bids to calm fears that parliament is sinking

Commons Speaker John Bercow has brushed off fears Parliament could sink into the River Thames.

Conservative Robert Halfon, quoting weekend news reports that the mock-Gothic building had been undermined by Tube tunnelling and work on Westminster’s underground car park, asked if MPs needed to take emergency action.

The MP asked Bercow for a statement, “just in case we know whether or not to buy our life jackets”.

Bercow, who lives on the Parliamentary estate, told Halfon: ““As you can see, I am not worried.”

The reassurance came as MPs were due to discuss how to deal with subsidence which has caused cracks in walls around the Houses of Commons and Lords, with Big Ben’s bell tower leaning 18in at its peak.

There were even fears the building could subside into the Thames.

MPs on the House of Commons Commission, which is responsible for the upkeep of the estate, received a surveyor’s report suggesting options for dealing with the problems, including repairs which may mean peers and MPs temporarily moving out.

The most radical solution would be to sell the estate and move into new offices, though politicians are unlikely to abandon such a famous and prestigious Grade I-listed location.