GO AD-FREE. Get 2 Months Digital Subscription for ONLY £1! Use code 2FOR1
GET STARTEDMore on KentOnline
GO AD-FREE. Get 2 Months Digital Subscription for ONLY £1! Use code 2FOR1
GET STARTEDMore on KentOnline
A mum is behind a controversial national campaign to get Big Ben bonging to mark the UK’s departure from the EU.
Rebecca Ryan, founder of StandUp4Brexit, is backing the crowdfunding initiative to raise the £500,000 needed to get the iconic landmark clock chiming again for the historic occasion on Friday, January 31.
Ms Ryan, 42, who runs her own digital business from her home in Lower Upnor in Medway, said: “This golden moment must be celebrated, and what better way to celebrate than with Big Ben chiming in our bold and brilliant new future?”
Ms Ryan defended criticism that getting the timepiece, which is under repair and renovation, in working order was a waste of money.
The mum of an 11-year-old daughter said: “The good thing about crowd-funding is it is not public money. It’s about how you want to spend your money, like spending it on a concert or a take-away.
“Getting Big Ben bonging is tremendously important. It is unifying for the nation and symbolic.
“Every pound you donate increases the pressure on the Prime Minister and government to go ahead and on that basis we hope that people will feel able to contribute. Even if we do not succeed, donations in the fund will go to Help for Heroes.”
The idea for the bells to ring out at 11pm on January 31, which will be midnight in Brussels, was first mooted by pro-Brexit MPs.
At an estimated £500,000, the cost of marking Brexit in this way would be more than £45,000 per bong – assuming the bell strikes 11 times.
The House of Commons Commission, which is responsible for maintenance in parliament, has concluded the cost is not justified as it would involve installing a temporary floor and bringing back the chiming mechanism estimated at £120,000, plus the cost of delaying the originally scheduled works.
Evie Martin, who was due to stand for the Brexit Party in Sittingbourne and Sheppey before Nigel Farage’s intervention, has said the money would be better spent on food banks or schools.
Speaking on kmtv’s Paul on Politics, she supported Medway Labour councillor Naushabah Khan, who was also on the programme. She said: “I honestly think there are bigger priorities but if people want to mark the occasion, it is up to them.”
Meanwhile, Kent-based MEP Anthony Hook (Lib Dem), who is from Faversham, is running a rival campaign to drape a huge banner across the White Cliffs of Dover with a message of support for the EU.
