Long-delayed plans to spend billions revamping the Palace of Westminster are now firmly ‘back on the agenda’ despite fears that MPs will be ‘conned’ over the true cost.
There are also warnings that if MPs moved out to allow the massive works to take place, they would never move back in – with the historic 19th-century building being turned into a museum.
And last night, Reform leader Nigel Farage urged colleagues to back alternative plans to do the renovations while MPs remained on site.
But backers of the ‘full decant’ plans insisted that that was the cheapest option of saving the crumbling World Heritage Site.
Commons sources also pointed out it costs £1.5 million a week to maintain the building.
The Mail on Sunday has learnt that revised plans to restore the world-famous palace will be put to MPs and peers in the New Year.
Sources said they will first be asked to vote on £3 billion of preparatory works before deciding on whether to completely vacate the building or opt for ‘work-around’ renovations while staying put – which one source said could take 70 years to complete.
Under the new ‘full decant’ plans, both Houses would quit the palace in 2031 or 2032 and potentially not return until 2046 at the earliest.
The official estimated cost of the full decant is understood to be about £9 billion – not including the £3 billion preparatory works, though one senior Labour MP insisted that the ‘work-around’ option would cost much more.
However, critics fear that the final bill of either option will be much bigger than any official estimate.
There are also claims that the planning of the whole project needs to be more transparent.
One MP critical of the scheme said last night: ‘It’s clear that the full decant is now back on the agenda as the favoured option of both Commons officials and senior Labour MPs.
‘But I fear we will be conned over the true cost of all this.’
Another said: ‘If we move out completely, I don’t think we’ll ever come back in.
‘There’ll be snags over the restoration and it’ll end up with the place being turned into a museum.’
It is now over a decade since a parliamentary report said the Palace, built to replace a medieval complex burnt down in 1834, was so ridden with fires-safety problems, leaking roofs and asbestos that if it ‘were not a listed building of the highest heritage value, its owners would probably be advised to demolish and rebuild’.
And in 2017, this paper revealed how the plumbing at the Victorian palace, completed in 1876, was so bad that sewage was seeping into a basement.
But MPs have so far hesitated over the massive cost of a complete ‘restoration and renewal’ programme.
However, Mr Farage said last night: ‘I don’t object to spending the money – it’s one of the most iconic buildings in the world.
‘It needs modernising desperately but I would favour the work-around option.’
A UK Parliament said: ‘We remain on track to bring costed proposals for the restoration of the Palace of Westminster to both Houses this year detailing costs, timescales, risks and benefits of the delivery options, all of which represent a significant, multi-billion-pound investment in the Palace.’
Under the full decant plans, MPs would meet in a specially-constructed replica Commons Chamber in the former Department of Health offices in Richmond House while peers would move into the QE2 conference centre.
