By David Stewart White
Engineers report that Big Ben is leaning. The clock tower of the Palace of Westminster, as it is officially known, has developed a one-and-one-half foot tilt.
Good news for tourists: the list is enough to be seen with the naked eye; perhaps enough to serve as an excuse for millions of slightly out-of-alignment photographs snapped nearby from busy Westminster Bridge.
Good news for members of Parliament: Big Ben is not in imminent danger of falling on their heads during a debate. If it fell, the tower would smash into Parliamentary offices across Bridge Street and perhaps block the entrances to Westminster Tube station.
Good news for all concerned: at its present rate of tilting, it could take 4,000 years for Big Ben to lean as far off vertical as Europe's most famous leaning tower in Pisa, Italy. Toppling over would take even longer.
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