COST OF WESTMINSTER REPAIRS KEEPS CLOCKING UP

AN UNEXPECTED extra bill for refurbishing Parliament’s Elizabeth Tower has triggered fresh concerns about the multibillion-pound cost of overhauling the rest of the crumbling Palace of Westminster.

Parliamentary chiefs this week admitted the amount needed to pay for renovating the structure that houses the famous Big Ben bell has risen by nearly £19million to £79.7million.

They blamed bomb damage dating back to the SecondWorld

War, pollution and shoddy work in the past for the increased cost.

I was lucky enough to be invited on a trip up the scaffolding to near the top of the 315ft tower last week and anyone who inspects the renovation work can see just what a magnificent job has been done.

The hands on the famous clock have been returned to the original Prussian Blue, dozens of intricate glass panels in the clock face have been replaced, decorations re-covered in gold leaf and weatherbeaten stonework made good by expert masons.

Architects say unanticipated damage and restoration challenges have continually cropped up.

Yet far more problems are bound to be uncovered when the full “Restoration and Renewal” programme begins around the middle of the decade.

Most MPs expect the cost to the taxpayer from the project to soar far above the current £4billion estimate. Some fear the work will prove so challenging that the planned temporary relocation of the Commons and the Lords chambers will become permanent.

“My biggest fear is that, once gone, MPs will never again set foot in the Palace ofWestminster,”Tory backbencher Robert Halfon wrote on the ConservativeHome website earlier this week. As happened with the Government’s high-speed rail project this week, demand can only grow for the authorities to get a grip on the spiralling costs.

WORKERS renovating Parliament’s Elizabeth Tower have installed a tiny kitchenette and a lavatory close to the Big Ben belfry for use when the landmark reopens next year, sources close to the project have revealed. The move is to save staff who do routine maintenance on the clock mechanism and chimes having to climb the tower’s 334 steps every time they want a cuppa or to answer a call of nature.