"BBC Four Collections - archive programmes chosen by experts." "For this collection, Simon Jenkins has selected programmes celebrating the people and places of London." "More programmes on this theme, and other BBC Four Collections, are available on BBC iPlayer." "The date is 1852." "A new House of Commons had just been completed, its predecessor having been destroyed by fire." "For nearly a century, this house, built by Sir Charles Barry, was to be the cradle of British history." "Until May 81941, the meeting place of the nation's elected representatives was the setting for The Debate Continues." "That night, with the war not yet two years old, Britain stood alone." "Her towns and cities faced attack from the air, as they had done for months past." "The Commons adjourned that night, unaware that they would never sit again in the same House." "For two days later was May 10." "More than 500 bombers of the 2nd and 3rd Air Fleet of the Luftwaffe came to London that night." "And as Mr Churchill noted, it was one of the last bombs of the night that hit the House of Commons." "Sunday morning revealed the chamber as an empty shell." "It was, in the words of an observer at the time," ""the most grievous breach of privilege by the King's enemies"." "The chamber was wrecked, but the Commons endured." "When the House resumed after the weekend, there was nothing in Hansard to show that anything had happened." "Members had moved out of the Palace of Westminster, though not out of Westminster itself." "They were meeting only a few hundred yards away at what became known as The Annexe." "Church House." "This had been, and was to be again, their home during many moments of danger from the air, though at the time, the fact could not be told." "And it was not until April 1948 that the emergency tenancy of this headquarters of the Church of England was officially commemorated." "There, Mr Attlee and Mr Churchill together unveiled an inscribed oak panel." "It reproduces a passage from the famous wartime speech of Mr Churchill, in which he proclaimed the resolve of Parliament to keep alive "even under the fire of the enemy" ""those parliamentary institutions" ""which are the proudest assertion of British freedom" ""and the expression of an unconquerable national will."" "I should like, first of all, to express our gratitude to the Archbishop and to the corporation of Church House for putting this tablet here which commemorates a famous incident in parliamentary history." "And too, I am glad that this plaque should contain the stirring words that our Prime Minister during the war spoke to us." "Your Grace, my Lords, ladies and gentlemen, there is little that I can add to the well-chosen words and sentiments which the Prime Minister has expressed." "The Church House was a port in a storm to the House of Commons." "It was a very present help in time of trouble." "We had the difficulty of persuading Members of Parliament to take the necessary precautions for their safety." "There was a strong feeling among members that, when the factories were told to carry on, they should set an example." "But I must frankly confess that, looking at it from the position of responsibility which I occupied in those days," "I could not at all relish the prospect of suddenly being confronted with 300 or 400 by-elections." "But when conditions permitted the Commons to meet again in the Palace of Westminster, they had done so in what they themselves call "another place" - the House of Lords." "This tenancy too has now been officially acknowledged." "The Commons have put on record their grateful appreciation of the courtesy of the House of Lords in placing this, their chamber, at the disposal of His Majesty for their occupation." "As the Leader of the House put it," ""Their Lordships have shown themselves perfect hosts."" "And even while the dangers of war still threatened, the Commons began planning their new peacetime House." "In 1943, a Select Committee was appointed to consider and report plans for rebuilding." "The Committee's report, adopted a year later, recommended that the chamber should be rebuilt, as far as possible, in its original form." "On the fourth anniversary of its destruction, May 10th, 1945, the work of reconstruction began." "On foundations dating back to 1299, a coalition of steel and masonry took over the Commons' new home." "By October 1948, the building had advanced far enough for the laying of the foundation stone." "Ministers and members met in Star Chamber Court to watch the Speaker, Colonel Clifton Brown, lay the stone." "The handle of the trowel he used was made of oak, saved from the timbers of the burnt-out chamber." "The stone itself, like the rest of the main structure, was hewn from Clipsham in Rutland, at a quarry specially reopened." "English oak was again to be used for the interior of the chamber." "The huge quantity required came from trees grown in the woods of Herefordshire and Shropshire, trees that had been specially selected by the architect, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott." "The trees were three centuries old, having been planted during another stormy parliamentary period between the execution of Charles I and the accession of Queen Anne." "After being kiln-dried in a special process, the great oak planks went to workshops in Islington." "There, any small faults were cut out before they were shaped for their part in the panelling and joinery of the new House." "And when the great day of the reopening came, that character was to be evident anew." "The setting for it was Westminster Hall, the home of the first Parliament fully representative of the shires and boroughs of England, the Parliament of Simon de Montfort." "This day, 700 years later, history was to be made here again, with a new chapter in an ageless story." "From the direction of the reconstructed chamber came a procession that has been and will be a familiar sight in the lobbies of the House." "Preceded by the Mace, there came Mr Speaker, Colonel Clifton Brown." "Seated near the Speaker, close to the steps, were 29 bearers of the equivalent office," "Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth Legislatures." "They, like the Members of Parliament assembled to the right of the hall, had come from the new chamber." "For there, the workshop of democracy, as the Prime Minister called it, had been that day inaugurated with the traditional prayers." "And following the Speaker to a seat on the other side of the Royal Chairs was to come the Lord Chancellor, a procession again heralded by the fanfares of state trumpeters." "Lord Jowitt, the King's personal representative in the Lords, walked slowly up the steps, preceded by his sign of office, the purse of the Great Seal." "The most moving parliamentary ceremony of all was about to begin." "The Lords Temporal and Spiritual, and the Commons, as elected by the people, and the dignitaries invited for the occasion, were to witness an event without precedent." "To join them in this great hour came Their Majesties the King and Queen, here leaving Buckingham Palace by car for Westminster with the princesses following them in another car." "The King was in morning dress, the Queen in a gown of eggshell blue." "For this was no pageant for crown and rose, it was an act of dedication to an unbroken tradition, a tradition that is this country's proudest heritage." "It was also a family occasion, when King, Lords and Commons, the great family that is Britain, joined by representatives of the Commonwealth, proclaimed anew their faith in the institutions that make the British Commonwealth of Nations." "Though the ceremony had much of the atmosphere of a family meeting, it was nevertheless a state occasion." "And it was, in fact, the only way open to His Majesty to join in the celebrations at the rebirth of the Commons chamber." "For though the Parliament buildings have been and still are a royal palace, the Commons have for centuries insisted on their right to exclude the King from their meeting place." "The last time a king entered it, was in the 17th century, when Charles I paid an unheralded visit and tried to arrest five members." "However, the King had indeed visited the new House on the previous day, together with the Queen and Queen Mary." "In doing so, His Majesty didn't break with precedent." "For, since the chamber had not then been formally occupied by the Commons, it was not technically in possession of all its privileges." "The Lord Chancellor, after reading the address from the Lords thanking His Majesty for the use of the Royal Robing Rooms, moved forward to place the text of his address into the King's hands." "And following the Lord Chancellor came Mr Speaker, with a Loyal Address from the Commons." "Most Gracious Sovereign, we, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in Parliament assembled, humbly beg leave to offer to Your Majesty our most hearty thanks for the arrangement" "which Your Majesty was pleased to make with the most willing assent of the Lords for our accommodation in your Palace of Westminster since the destruction of the House of Commons nine years ago." "We also tender our most grateful thanks to Your Majesty for having caused the rebuilding on this same site of that chamber in your Palace of Westminster which was allocated for the use of the Commons by your royal predecessor Queen Victoria" "nearly 100 years ago, and which was destroyed by the malice of your enemies in 1941." "In that dark time, when almost all Europe lay beneath the heel of the conqueror," "Your Majesty's people stood firmly together, and freely shed their blood in the cause of democratic freedom." "In this same generous spirit, these peoples have given lavishly of the natural products of their soil and of their own skill and industry, to brighten and adorn the new chamber which you have set apart for our use." "We thank Your Majesty for the gracious message directing us to occupy the new chamber on Thursday the 26th day of October, and for the arrangements which have enabled the Speakers," "Presiding Officers, or their deputies of so many countries of the Commonwealth and Empire to be present on this occasion." "In all humility, we trust that with God's help, our deliberations in our new chamber may result in securing the peace, well-being and happiness not only of our own people and the peoples of the Commonwealth, but of all the peoples of the world." "The finest carvers in the country put their hearts and minds into what was to them a labour of love." "Craftsmen every one, they were proud of a skill handed down to them through centuries." "They worked on this task for nearly three years." "At first they were few in numbers, for their ranks have rapidly declined in recent years." "But soon, men came down from the Midlands, while others came out of retirement to join in shaping this artistry in wood." "Timber specialists said that they had never seen oak of such quality before." "And the same too was said about the work of the carvers, whose designs had been drawn, like almost every detail for the new House, by the architect, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, himself." "Fashioned by the skilful hands of 34 select British craftsmen, these, then, are some of the fine things that have gone into the making of the chamber, seen here ready for its occupants, which include not only the Members of Parliament," "but also the men who, from the gallery above the Speaker's chair, watch, listen and report." "One of them is our parliamentary correspondent, ER Thompson." "I found it at once familiar and new." "Familiar because the essentials of the old, destroyed chamber had been preserved." "The shape and size which have done so much to form the style of Commons debate." "The main entrance to the chamber is known as the Churchill Arch, formed from damaged stones which remained after the destruction of the House." "In contrast with these noble relics are the brand-new inner doors beyond, gifts from India and Pakistan." "And this gleam of newness amid the old shines out also from the Bar of the House, a gift from Jamaica, marking the ancient boundary beyond which no-one but a member may pass." "At the other end of the House stands the Speaker's chair, a present from Australia." "From here, Mr Speaker will preside over the parliamentary battles to come." "The dispatch boxes, too, come from the Commonwealth, from New Zealand." "They replace the ones which, so it is said, were dented by the signet ring of Gladstone as he thumped out his arguments." "And from many other parts of the Commonwealth, gifts have been received." "The donors range from Aden to Zanzibar, from the Windward Islands to the Bahamas." "Presents from the daughter parliaments to the mother of them all." "The new chamber is, as of old, rectangular, with the Government and Opposition facing each other as they've done since they first used the choir stalls in St Stephen's Chapel four centuries ago." "Among the new features are the microphones and miniature loudspeakers above the dispatch boxes and on the benches." "I'm told too that the air conditioning will keep the atmosphere like a spring morning, whatever the political temperature may be." "But of course, the debating chamber is only part of the new building." "Outside it there are conference and secretarial and interviewing rooms, all facilities not hitherto available to members." "And here again, much of the furniture is the gift of countries from the Commonwealth and the colonial empire." "Accommodation in the chamber will, as ever, be limited, so the new House, like the old, is deliberately too small for every member to find a seat, a design that makes for the intimate character of the House of Commons." "The Speaker followed the same ritual as the Lord Chancellor as he walked up the steps to the throne, there to place the Commons Loyal Address into the King's hands." "Replying to the addresses, the King made the theme of his speech the freedom, justice and toleration that are the spirit of our parliamentary system." "My Lords, and Members of the House of Commons." "I thank you for the loyal and dutiful addresses which on your behalf, the Lord Chancellor and Mr Speaker have presented to me." "I am very glad to be here today and to congratulate the members of the House of Commons on the rebuilding of their Chamber." "I look back with pride and gratitude to the part that Parliament played when this country was in danger." "True to its function of expressing the will and spirit of my people, the House of Commons continued with unshakeable courage and high purpose to fulfil its duties despite the bombing of its home." "The destruction of the Chamber in which it had met for so many years was not allowed to interrupt our Parliamentary Government." "When the peoples of our Commonwealth of Nations stood alone the spirit of a free people ensured the maintenance of our system of Government." "The King spoke too of his pleasure that the traditional intimacy of the Commons had been preserved in the new chamber." "He congratulated all those concerned with its building, and went on to welcome the Commonwealth representatives and to thank them for their countries' gifts." "This new Chamber will stand as a sign to the world of our faith in freedom of our confidence in the permanence of our common ideals, and of the ties, flexible yet firm which hold together the peoples of our Commonwealth," "and unite in brotherhood the freedom-loving people of all nations." "For freedom finds expression in this Palace of Westminster, where free men and women can speak in accordance with the dictates of their consciences, yet with that saving grace of humour and readiness to understand the point of view of others" "which has ever been typical of our race." "After drawing a contrast with the threat to freedom in other lands," "His Majesty ended..." "May this chamber long stand to shape the destinies of my people at home." "And may the blessing of almighty God rest upon it and all who labour therein." "Slowly, the Royal party made their way out of Westminster Hall." "The ceremony was drawing to a close." "Another page of parliamentary history had been written." "An era had ended." "A new one was about to begin." "From the Great Hall, all that remains of the original medieval Palace of Westminster, an old tradition returned to its old surroundings." "Later that day, the Commons returned to their new chamber and Parliament was prorogued, and its present session was thus brought to an end." "Soon, a new session will begin." "And back again will come the familiar phrases." "The Minister has just begun his reply for the Government with an undertaking that an inquiry will be started immediately." "The debate continues."