Gli ultimi 12 rintocchi a mezzogiorno di lunedì. Poi il Big Ben, il celebre orologio di Londra (anche se il nome in realtà indica solo la sua campana), rimarrà in silenzio per i prossimi quattro anni, durante i quali il simbolo della capitale britannica sarà sottoposto a un complesso lavoro di ristrutturazione.
Un progetto che è diventato motivo di scontro tra Theresa May e Jeremy Corbyn. La premier Tory nei giorni scorsi ha rivolto un appello affinché Londra non perda i suoi rintocchi noti in tutto il mondo, mentre per il leader del Labour "non è un disastro nazionale". Sempre oggi, lunedì, un gruppo di parlamentari "nostalgici" si è ritrovato ai piedi della torre per ascoltare le campane un'ultima volta.
Sono state ben poche le volte in cui il Big Ben non ha suonato nei suoi 157 anni di storia. Fra le pause sino ad oggi più lunghe, quella nel 2007, durata sei settimane, al fine di permettere i lavori di manutenzione, mentre nel 1976, dopo i gravi danni al meccanismo dell'orologio, lo stop dei rintocchi fu di nove mesi.
ATS/ANSA/Swing
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