When Parliament Got Lit: The Fight To Save Britain’s Neon Craft

The Night Westminster Glowed Neon

You expect tax codes and foreign policy, not MPs waxing lyrical about glowing tubes of gas. But on a spring night in the Commons, Britain’s lawmakers did just that.

Yasmin Qureshi, MP for Bolton South and Walkden rose to defend neon’s honour. Her argument was simple but fierce: glass and gas neon is an art form, and cheap LED impostors are strangling it.

She hammered the point: only gas-filled glass earns the name neon—everything else is marketing spin.

another MP backed the case, noting his support for neon as an artistic medium. For once, the benches agreed: neon is more than signage, it’s art.

Numbers told the story. Only 27 full-time neon glass benders remain in the UK. The pipeline of skill is about to close forever. The idea of a certification mark or British Standard was floated.

Enter Jim Shannon, GlowWorks London DUP, backed by numbers, saying the neon sign market could hit $3.3 billion by 2031. His point: there’s room for craft and commerce to thrive together.

Closing the debate, Chris Bryant had his say. He couldn’t resist the puns, getting heckled for it in good humour. But underneath the banter was a serious nod.

Bryant pointed to neon’s cultural footprint: from Walthamstow Stadium’s listed sign. He noted neon’s sustainability—glass and gas beat plastic LED.

So what’s the issue? The danger is real: retailers blur the lines by calling LED neon. That erases heritage.

Think of it like whisky or champagne. If it’s not woven in the Hebrides, it’s not tweed.

What flickered in Westminster wasn’t bureaucracy but identity. Do we let homogenisation kill character in the name of convenience?

At Smithers, we know the answer: real neon matters.

Parliament literally debated neon heritage. Nothing’s been signed off, the campaign is alive.

And if MPs can argue for real neon under the oak-panelled glare of the House, you can sure as hell hang one in your lounge, office, or personalised neon signs London bar.

Bin the plastic pretenders. Your space deserves the real deal, not mass-produced mediocrity.

The glow isn’t going quietly.