Colour prejudice
Our Government seems oddly reluctant to nail its colours to the mast when those colours are True Blue. As part of the current restoration of the Palace of West- minster, in which the greatest care is being taken to use authentic colour schemes both inside and ouside the building, it is current- ly proposed to restore the original colour scheme for the Clock Tower while the scaffolding is up. Research conducted by the Department of the Environment has established that the hands of Big Ben were only painted black in 1934 and that origi- nally Sir Charles Barry had the clock faces gilded and painted in two shades of blue, with the shields in the spandrils decked out in red and white. The Clock Tower thus emblazoned will 'obviously look splendid and the Property Services Agency's scheme to restore these colours has been enthusiastically approved by the relevant planning authorities, that is, by both the Conservative controlled Westminster City Council and by the Historic Buildings Division of Red Ken's GLC. But now a hitch has occurred: the PSA has suddenly withdrawn the proposal. Why? Possibly Mr Patrick Jenkin prefers black and considers colour on public buildings to be rather garish. If so, that would seem a very frivolous reason for spoiling the restora- tion, especially as scaffolding is only erected on the Clock Tower every half century and the opportunity will soon be lost. It seems, however, that Mr Jenkin considers that to paint the clock blue is a politically sensitive issue. If that is the case, the Secretary of State must be as fright- ened as he is ignorant. Fortunately, until now, the authentic restoration of historic buildings has been above politics, while the painting scheme has caused no offence. And why is Mr Jenkin suddenly worried about offending the Opposition? Respect for the sensibilities of socialists has not prevented him from trying to do away with the GLC, and blue is in any case the traditional colour for public clocks.
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