"The museum will save the taxpayer £350m a year," said a spokesperson
Manchester Town Hall is now closed for six years as it undergoes a full refurbishment costing more than £300m. When it re-opens only a small part, such as the main state suites, will be used for civic purposes, while other parts, such as the toilets, will remain useful for civic functions (including bodily ones).
However, in a bold and exciting plan, the City Council have just announced the whole of the Princess Street side of the building will house the National Museum of Brexit.
Timed to coincide with the news that there is only one year to go before the country leaves the European Union, Manchester City Council believes the museum will be a popular visitor attraction and provide a focus for debate, argument and the odd fight.
“We’ll be publicising the museum with a specially commissioned bus"
“The Town Hall lies close to the site of the Peterloo Massacre of 1819, an important event that influenced politics for many decades,” said a spokesperson. “Brexit is no different.
"The museum will mean Manchester remains at the heart of Europe. Or rather, it will have a museum that will, the city, like the rest of the country, won’t. The Peterloo Massacre was a conflict that could have been avoided, just like Brexit, and we want to make that association clear.”
The exhibitions will be fully interactive and will change every six months based on popularity with visitors. The majority vote will be decisive no matter how narrow the gap. A new exhibition will mean a new exhibition.
Permanent galleries will include: ‘Why, why, God, why?’; ‘I’m Not A Racist Just Because I Voted Out’; ‘The Future v The Past, an interactive fight between a young person (remain) and an older person (leave)’.
Other exhibitions tabled include: ‘See if you’re part Irish (and get an EU passport)’ and Snog, Shag or Punch (guests can pick one of Jacob Rees-Mogg, Chuka Umunna, Kenneth Clarke, Boris Johnson, Michael Barnier and Nigel Farage)’. A gallery sponsored by The Daily Mail will be called ‘Turn Back The Clock. Hurrah for the Home Counties, er…England, er...the United Kingdom’.
An adult only part of the museum will be called: 'My Border's So Hard: Do You Want To Sit On It?'
“We’ll be publicising the museum with a specially commissioned bus,” continued the spokesperson, “on the side it will state: ‘We don’t need the NHS, we need more museums’.
"The museum will save the taxpayer £350m a year, although we’re not sure that’s the case and don’t know where we got that figure. Of course. the museum won't be free. The funding will come from a European Union cultural programme so we’re filling in those application forms and posting them to Brussels as quickly as possible.”
A decision will be made on whether to go ahead with the project following a Manchester referendum this summer. In June, on the anniversary of the main Brexit Referendum, former Prime Minister David Cameron will chair a debate on the National Museum of Brexit entitled: ‘The Law of Unintended Consequences'.
