House of Lords Ends 1000-Year-Old Tradition To Save £80,000
Britain Sinking into the Sea, Traditions, Un Autre Jolie Cadeau de la Revolution Francaise, Vellum
The Telegraph is justifiably indignant.
The thousand year old tradition of printing Britain’s laws on vellum has been scrapped to save just £80,000 a year despite concerns from MPs about ending the historic practice.
The House of Lords have confirmed that from April all legislation will printed on simple archive paper instead of the traditional calfskin vellum.
All of Parliament’s legislation and some of the country’s most important historical documents have been printed and written on vellum, including the Domesday Book of 1086, Magna Carta and the Lindisfarne Gospels.
In October last year John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, said that MPs should be able to block the plans with a vote on the floor of the Commons.
It came after a number of MPs who oppose the move warned that Britain will lose an important part of its tradition and that new archive paper will not last as long.
They warned that while velllum lasts for 5,000 years, archival papers last for just 200 years.
