Feature: Should British Parliament move to Birmingham, York .... Or Mars?

The old ballad London Bridge is Falling Down could finally have a rival.

London's most precious building, the Houses of Parliament, are also falling down. Roofs are leaking, the plumbing needs replacing and the building is riddled with hazardous asbestos.

A 250-page report by experts confirms an assessment in 2013 that without massive repairs and renovation, there would be irreversible damage to the Palace of Westminster, a World Heritage Site.

The dilemma is what to do with hundreds of politicians in both houses of parliament while the builders are in.

The Palace of Westminster, famed for its 'Big Ben' chiming clock tower, is one of the most recognizable and photographed buildings in the world, home of what is called the Mother of Parliaments.

Politicians may have spent some of the weekend away from their 'workplace' studying the report detailing the perilous state of the buildings. At the same time hundreds of thousands of people were marching through London demanding an end to austerity.

With the country still living beyond its means, the thought of spending up to 11 billion to stop Parliament from falling down, will send shockwaves through those who feel they are victims of austerity.

A committee of politicians from both houses will now debate which option to follow, patching up the buildings, moving out for a few years and do the job in one go, or do it in phases over between 30 to 40 years.

There is though growing support for an alternative solution. Move parliament away from London altogether and build a new fit-for-purpose parliament elsewhere, such as York or Birmingham. Or as one correspondent to Architect's Journal magazine suggested: "It would be cheaper to move it to Mars...and more popular."

The pomp, the pageantry and the ceremony goes hand in hand with the ornate style and layout of the building. When the main chamber of the House of Commons was badly damaged during a World War II bombing raid the then Prime Minister Winston Churchill insisted on reinstating the chamber with its face-to-face adversarial design. Even today red lines along the floor of the chamber, exactly two sword lengths apart, are there to stop opposing MPs from crossing the floor of the house.

Despite the passion by some to quit London, it seems unlikely parliament will move away from the capital, though politicians may have to decamp for short periods to temporary homes in London to allow work to be carried out.

Former 'father of the House of Commons' retired MP Sir Tam Dalywell said: "Decanting to a new structure in Leicester, York or wheresoever may be an attractive whim. But think of the disruption it would cause."

Lord Desai, a member of the House of Lords said: "Parliament is more than the chambers where members speak."

As Christopher Costelloe, director of the Victorian Society said: "This exceptional building is simply too important for the work not to be carried out. The Palace of Westminster is not only the 'mother of parliaments' it is our equivalent of the Eiffel Tower - an international symbol of the UK. This report is an important step towards securing the future of this absolutely irreplaceable Grade I-listed world heritage site."

A writer to the London Evening Standard posted: "Why don't they just move out of London to somewhere more central to the whole of the UK, flog the building off to a property developer, who will convert the building into Luxury flats." Endit