British PM chimes in on decision to silence Big Ben

British Prime Minister Theresa May has said that it is wrong for the London landmark Big Ben to go silent for four years.

The Elizabeth Tower which houses the Big Ben bell is scheduled to undergo four years of renovation. The bell will ring for the last time at noon on Aug 21 when the ringing mechanism will be cut.

Speaking in Portsmouth after a ceremony involving the new British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, May told reporters: "Of course we want to ensure people's safety at work but it can't be right for Big Ben to be silent for four years.

"And I hope that the Speaker, as the chairman of the House of Commons commission, will look into this urgently so that we can ensure that we can continue to hear Big Ben through those four years."

May's comments were more restrained than those of her Brexit minister, David Davis, who said on Tuesday that the silencing of Big Ben for such a long period was "mad".

The silencing of Big Ben was announced this week to the surprise of many, even though it has gone silent many times during its 157-year history.

The administrators of the Palace of Westminster, which houses the Houses of Parliament and the Elizabeth Tower, defended their actions, which they said were first agreed in 2015 by three separate committees of members or parliament.

They said in a statement: "Starting and stopping Big Ben is a complex and lengthy process. The striking hammer is locked and the bells can then be disconnected from the clock mechanism. The weights are lowered within the weight shaft to the base of the tower and secured in a safe position. The whole process takes around half a day to complete.

"Following a thorough assessment, experts have concluded that it would not be practical or a good use of public money to start and stop the bells each day, particularly as we cannot fully predict the times that staff will be working on this project."

The House of Commons website confirmed that the bells will stop as planned at noon on Aug 21 but added that they would be happy to hold further discussions on the duration of the silence. The sound of Big Ben's bongs became associated with Britain around the world during wartime BBC news broadcasts.

AP contributed to this story.

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