The safety of workers seems to be less important to Rees-Mogg than his bizarre sense of tradition

Yesterday (Thursday 11 March) a report by Parliament’s Restoration and Renewal Sponsor Body recommended that in order to renovate parliament safely, a full decant to alternative premises should be undertaken.

Today the Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg has rejected the plan. This is despite evidence that there is serious risk to safety if a full decant does not take place, that costs will be higher, and that the work will take decades longer to complete.

Garry Graham, Prospect deputy general secretary,  said:

“Just a day after Parliament’s Restoration and Renewal Sponsor Body warned of an ‘extraordinary level of risk’, more cost and decades of delays if renovation of parliament goes ahead without a full decant, Jacob Rees-Mogg has poured cold water on the idea.

“For the Leader of the House to reject this out of hand raises the question of what the point of the whole exercise was if his views are apparently impervious to evidence.

“Whether it is the restoration or Covid security, a worrying impression is forming that the safety of those on the parliamentary estate is significantly less important to the Leader than his own bizarre sense of tradition and the views of a handful of dinosaurs on the Tory back benches.”