TEMPORARY COMMONS CHAMBER DURING RENOVATIONS TO THE PALACE OF WESTMINSTER

That this House notes that the proposal to demolish Richmond House is an environmentally unsound and financially wasteful destruction of a perfectly usable office building; recognises that the recommendation of the Joint Committee of the Palace of Westminster to build a temporary Commons chamber in the courtyard of Richmond House was based on incorrect information; appreciates the objections to the demolition of Richmond House raised by SAVE Britain's Heritage based on the building's contribution to British architecture; further notes that Sir Michael Hopkins, the architect of Portcullis House, has presented plans that would accommodate a full temporary Commons chamber within the atrium of Portcullis House; and calls on the Government to abandon plans to demolish Richmond House and instead to erect a temporary plenary chamber in the atrium of Portcullis House during renovations to the Palace of Westminster.