Parliament isn’t usually fun. Foreign affairs and funding rows. But one night in May 2025, things got weird — because they lit up over glowing tubes. Ms Qureshi herself lit the place up defending authentic signage. She blasted the plastic pretenders. Her line? If it’s not bent glass filled with neon gas, it ain’t neon. Clear argument. Neon is an art form, not some strip light fad. Backing her up was Chris McDonald who bragged about neon art in Teesside.

Cross-party vibes were glowing. Then came the killer numbers: from hundreds, only a handful remain. No apprentices. Skills vanish. She called for law like Harris Tweed or Champagne. Defend the glow. Even Strangford had its say. He dropped stats. Neon market could hit $3.3 billion by 2031. His point: it’s not nostalgia, it’s business. Last word came from Chris Bryant. He couldn’t resist wordplay.

He got roasted for dad jokes. But behind the jokes, the government was paying attention. He nodded to cultural landmarks: Piccadilly Circus. He said glass and gas beat plastic. Where’s the beef? Simple: plastic strips are sold as neon. Trust disappears. Think Champagne. If those are protected, why not neon?. This was bigger than signage. Do we let craft die for cheap convenience? We call BS: plastic is trash. The Commons got its glow-up.

No law yet, but the glow is alive. If it belongs in Parliament, it belongs in your bar. Skip the plastic. Back the craft.