Parliament could 'shut for 5 years'

The Houses of Parliament could close for up to five years while essential repairs are carried out, The Sunday Times said.

The broadsheet said several options were on the table while the plumbing and electrics are refurbished and the building is purged of asbestos, including leaving the Palace of Westminster for good.

"Officials are undertaking an initial study into options for the long-term upkeep of the palace," a spokesman for the House of Commons told the weekly.

"It is anticipated that the results of the initial study will be considered by the House of Commons commission and the House of Lords committee by the end of the year."

The Sunday Times said the Commons and the Lords could be evacuated for the first time since World War II, when the palace was repeatedly hit in Nazi air raids.

Options include leaving the palace, selling it and building a new parliament; a temporary replica chamber in the palace grounds; or, spreading the repair work out across decades of parliamentary breaks.

The interiors of the riverside Perpendicular Gothic palace, completed in 1870, have not been refurbished since the 1940s.

Parliament and the Treasury would have to approve the plans, the report said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/parliament-could-shut-5-years-075804785.html

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