The Houses Of Parliament Are Literally Collapsing - We've Got Photos Of The Damage

Houses of Parliament 2014/James RobinsonSome areas of the Palace of Westminster are a mess on the inside.

The Houses of Parliament are collapsing - literally. Damage built up over almost two centuries of intensive use has left the Palace of Westminster in urgent need of structural repairs.

Business Insider was given an exclusive tour through the winding tunnels under the Palace where the repair works are already underway, and interviewed the people responsible for saving the world's second-most photographed landmark.

It was a claustrophobic trip behind the scenes (and the walls) of British lawmaking, revealing both the incredible work of those who have had the job of maintaining the building over the years and the scale of the challenge that they now face.

Dr Richard Ware, programme director for the Restoration and Renewal Programme, and Mel Barlex, parliamentary director of estates and technical director for the programme, are leading the rescue effort and they gave us their prognosis of the future of this iconic building.