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Redecoration of speaker's official home costs £1.7 million

29/03/2008

The official residence of the speaker of the House of Commons has been redecorated at a cost to the taxpayer of £1.7 million, according to official statistics.

Details of the costs of refurbishing the home of speaker Michael Martin obtained by the Daily Telegraph under the Freedom of Information Act showed that £700,000 had been spent on internal works including the purchase of furniture and the installation of air conditioning.

An additional £1 million was also spent on improving the speaker's garden, which involved work to improve security measures in light of the 9/11 attacks

Mr Martin has filed a High Court appeal to prevent MPs expenses from being made public. This comes after a scandal over his use of air miles acquired during business for personal purposes and on the heels of Tory MP Derek Conway being suspended from parliament for ten days after employing his son as a researcher and paying him over £40,000 even though little evidence of work could be produced.

The scandals have led to growing calls for MPs expenses to be revealed and supporters of the move have criticised the amounts spent on renovating the speaker's official home, which is often used to entertain dignitaries

Former MP and anti-sleaze campaigner Martin Bell said: "I'm shocked but not surprised. The speaker should be setting a good example and he is not - MPs have got to get their palace in order.

"We are close to a state of constitutional crisis. You run out of words in the end to describe his behaviour."

Non-government organisation The TaxPayers' Alliance also slammed the discovery saying it was incorrect to spend such "stupendous sums" on a single residence.

The organisation's campaign director, Mark Wallace, said: "The speaker is well paid and receives generous allowances as well as a free house, so it is excessive for him to be billing so heavily for furniture, art and cooling systems."