Entrance or exit, £20k Parliament sign to stay

A SIGN that cost £20,000 and marks the entrance to the Scottish Parliament will not be removed when the door becomes the exit.

The huge granite sign, engraved in English and Gaelic, sits at the current entrance to Holyrood, which will not be used once a £6.6 million security annexe is completed.

The door will then become the exit – and parliament officials say they may erect an arrow on or near the sign to make sure visitors are not confused.

Independent Lothian MSP Margo MacDonald says keeping the sign could create a great deal of confusion.

She said: “It will be perfectly in keeping with the parliament, people won’t know whether they are coming or going. “

She said she believed the sign should remain – but that she was opposed to the new multi-
million pound security annexe.

Ms MacDonald said not building it at all would be the “easiest, most sensible and most economic” solution.

Others, including the widow of the building’s original architect, have also criticised the design for the extension.

A Holyrood spokeswoman said: “The sign is staying where it is. We’ll amend it to make it clear where the entrance is.”