The House of Commons Commission, responsible for Parliament maintenance, has revealed the cost for the bell to ring on New Year’s Eve and Remembrance Sunday was £14,200, half its original figure. It had also come up with the huge figure for restoring Big Ben’s bongs for Brexit night, something that never happened. Conservative MP Mark Francois, who was a leading campaigner for Big Ben to ring on Brexit night, said he would now take Commons estimates about the cost of restoring Parliament with a “quarry full of salt”.

Brexiteers donated £272,600 in an appeal by StandUp4Brexit to get the bell to chime. But the commission said major works would be required to see the bell toll amid the Elizabeth Tower’s £80million restoration. 

Mr Francois said: “How very convenient that, three weeks after Brexit night, the House authorities reveal that they overestimated the costs of Big Ben chiming on Remembrance Sunday and New Year’s Eve. 

“We can now take their cost estimates for the considerably larger Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Project with a quarry full of salt.” 

A multi-billion pound restoration of the Palace is due to begin around 2025. 

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