MPs will have to leave parliament for repairs

MPs have been told that they will have to move out of the Houses of Parliament for a “significant” amount of time. Yesterday John Benger, clerk of the Commons, told the public accounts committee it was a “challenging proposition” to close the palace for 20 years and suggested that it would not be supported politically. But he added: “It is entirely impractical to think that you can restore, renew, the services around the chambers themselves without decanting the occupants of the chambers.” In February parliament scrapped the sponsor body overseeing the repairs to the Palace of Westminster, after its said MPs would have to move out for at least 20 years to fix the 40,000-plus problems with the building. It added that if politicians did not move out, the repairs would take 76 years and cost £22bn. The committee was told that MPs would get a report on the new direction of the project before the summer recess. The Times (£) To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews