When Parliament Finally Got Lit It’s not often you hear the words "neon sign" echoing inside the hallowed halls of Westminster. But on a unexpected session after 10pm, Britain’s lawmakers did just that. Yasmin Qureshi, MP for Bolton South and Walkden stood up and lit the place up with a speech defending neon sign makers. She cut through with clarity: glass and gas neon is an art form, and the market is being flooded with false neon pretenders. She hammered the point: only gas-filled glass earns the name neon—everything else is marketing spin.

Backing her up was Chris McDonald, MP for Stockton North, noting his support for neon as an artistic medium. For once, the benches agreed: neon is more than signage, it’s art. The stats hit hard. The craft has dwindled from hundreds to barely two dozen. No trainees are coming through. Qureshi called for a Neon Signs Protection Act. Even the DUP’s Jim Shannon joined in, armed with market forecasts, noting global neon growth at 7.5% a year.

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. Jokes aside, he was listening. He highlighted neon as both commerce and culture: from God’s Own Junkyard’s riot of colour. He said neon’s eco-reputation is unfairly maligned. So what’s the issue? The danger is real: retailers blur the lines by calling LED neon.

That hurts artisans. If food has to be labelled honestly, why not signs?. If it’s not woven in the Hebrides, it’s not tweed. What flickered in Westminster wasn’t bureaucracy but identity. Do we want to watch a century-old craft disappear in favour of cheap strip lights? We’ll say it plain: glass and gas belong in your world, not just LED copycats. So yes, Westminster talked neon. Nothing’s been signed off, the case has been made. 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 bar.

Skip the LED wannabes. If you want authentic neon, handmade the way it’s meant to be, you know where to find it. The glow isn’t going quietly.