Gavin Williamson 'holding up parliament revamp over refusal to allow builders to use car park'
A major revamp of parliament is being held up by Gavin Williamson, it has been claimed.
According to reports the Defence Secretary and South Staffordshire MP is refusing to allow builders to use the Ministry of Defence's car park when work commences, meaning the plans to rebuild parliament are now having to be redrawn.
Andrea Leadson, the leader of the House of Commons, has revealed the need to redraw the plans to exclude the car park is incurring significant costs, believed to be in the region of £100m.
The restoration project at the Palace of Westminster is expected to begin in 2025, forcing MPs to move out.
The original plans included the the use of the MoD car park as a site for contractors’ lorries while they work on Richmond House on Whitehall, where MPs will sit.
But MoD officials, led by Mr Williamson who is said to be the chief architect behind the resistance, have for six months refused to sign off on the arrangement.
The tensions were revealed at a committee meeting yesterday.
Mrs Leadsom reportedly told the committee: “I deeply regret that already costs are being incurred on redrawing plans to exclude the MoD car park because progress hasn’t been made.”
She said that “a significant cost” was attached to the delay, believed to be in the region of £100 million. Mrs Leadsom added she had tried “extremely hard” to resolve the logjam and it was now being discussed between Mr Williamson and David Lidington, the Cabinet Office minister.
According to The Times, Mr Williamson has opposed the refurbishment of parliament ever since he was chief whip, when he apparently tried to kill the project off.
His objections to the revamp are based on "considerable national security concerns", primarily a crisis command bunker under the building, according to the newspaper.
