Big Ben coverage 'gets on my wick', says Ruth Davidson
The Scottish Tory leader hits out at the level of attention devoted to a "bloody clock that's going to stop ringing for a bit".
Thursday 24 August 2017 16:05, UK
Ruth Davidson has said the level of media coverage devoted to the silencing of Big Ben's bongs "gets on my wick".
The famous bell to allow renovations due to last four years to get under way.
A large crowd of MPs, parliamentary workers, members of the public and tourists clapped and cheered as the Great Bell chimed for the final time.
One of those who gathered to mark the event was Labour MP Stephen Pound, who said it was a "desperately sad" moment and demonstrated a "real poverty of imagination".
The Ealing North MP at one stage jokingly reached for a handkerchief and dabbed at his eyes as the bell tolled.
Ms Davidson, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, reflected on coverage of the event at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, where she led a Q&A with broadcaster Jon Snow.
As they pondered the question of whether the media is too London-centric, Ms Davidson said: "I have to say for somebody being 450 miles away from London, nothing gets on my wick more than screeds of news and time and effort and newsprint being given to a bloody clock that's going to stop ringing for a bit."
Questioning the relevance to much of the UK population, she continued: "I'm very lucky that in my job I have to go up and down to London relatively often, so up and down every month, so I have heard it in the flesh, lots of people have, but you just think you probably can't even hear it a mile away."
Mr Snow, who delivered the keynote James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the festival on Wednesday, said Ms Davidson was "not alone" in her views.
He added: "There is a sort of eccentricity of a certain sort of Brit. They're very rare and rather old.
"I didn't see a lot of young people flocking around saying 'It's so awful ... I'm going to be eight by the time this strikes again' and all that sort of stuff. It was absolute nonsense."