I will bite my tongue and try to provide a serious answer to this entertaining comparison.

People queue for hours to get into Westminster Abbey. It charges a lot to get in. And the ice cream man out front does good business.

Whenever I have walked in the front door of the RI it has been like boarding the Marie Celeste. Abandoned by the crew. Never seen an ice cream van within miles of the place. (Nice pub down on the corner though.)

I’m afraid this heritage argument is what kills the save-the RI-campaign for many observers. It comes nowhere near answering the “What is it for?” question.

One comment that has appeared elsewhere is interesting (to me at least):

“One thing to be considered by scientists now campaigning to save the RI (although with no clear vision or practical proposals for its future) is why many of them, through their scientific societies, long since abandoned the RI as a venue for meetings and conferences.”

At one time New Scientist used the place a lot for events. What about other organisations?

I gather that it has now priced itself out of the market. How many PEST agencies other than the RI itself use it as a venue?

It should be one of the most popular venues in London if all that heritage stuff really does mean anything.

If the scientific community wants to save the RI – has anyone seen any comment from the Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering or other thought leaders? – perhaps they could make a commitment to use it.

MK

Heck yes, let’s also sell off the costly Westminster Abbey building, and relocate its goings-on to a purpose-built structure in a more convenient location. Our religious heritage can’t be any more worth preserving than our scientific heritage, can it?

If relocation can be funded by selling-off old, expensive real-estate, while we’re at it let’s relocate London. It is remote and inaccessible to 87.5% of the UK population, parking is impossible and the food is expensive.

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