The Palace of Westminster, home to the House of Commons, collapses. And it is cold. Nobody wants to work there anymore, including Labor leader Keith Starmer, who prefers to stay two or three days a week at the party headquarters, a modern building in Southwark on the other side of the Thames. The walls are collapsing, the roofs are leaking and the temperatures are freezing. As Politico reveals, many are choosing to work remotely or in a hybrid form to remain present for essentials, especially in this cold month of January.
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“There are numerous problems with the Parliament building. “There are cracks under the weight of several thousand people working there and the oldest part of the building was not built for that,” summarizes Jenny Symmons, leader of the GMB union, which represents staff working with MPs.
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It was built in London in the 19th century and has not been seriously renovated since World War II. The risks from fires and collapsing walls are increasing, but renovation is not expected before the next elections. In any case, it is no longer considered “cool” to work there, admitted an employee of a conservative MP. “If it was not a historic building, under current regulations it would definitely not be allowed to set foot in such a destroyed building,” he thundered. Even the most modern part of the building, Portcullis House, has heating and plumbing problems. Last year, shards of glass fell from the atrium ceiling and jets of water fell on people working in the room. Pesticide-resistant rodents are frequently spotted, even after a £126,000 pest control operation in 2022 and the hiring of a full-time pest control expert.