The Portcullis House extension to the Palace of Westminster which was opened in 2001, has suffered problem after problem while questions have long been raised over the use of taxpayers; money for the £ 235 million building.
Stunned MPs were forced to run for cover after the roof of an office building in Parliament cracked open leaving a gaping hole in the roof of Portcullis House (PCH) and a flood of water gushed out into a huge pool on the floor. A researcher for the Bishop of Guildford, Mervyn Thomas said that he had been sitting in PCH when the glass pane fell in and he heard a big bang followed by a flood of water through the roof. Mr. Thomas added that there was a huge deluge, and he did not think anyone was hurt but had seen people scattering.
The glass ceiling had fallen in and glass fragments had been visible on the floor beneath the hole just bigger than the size of a cricket ball. The area had been cleared by Parliamentary staff while the damage was inspected, and hundreds of staff, journalists and MPs had been asked to move along.
The witness said that the area had been cleared of people within minutes and the chairs were cleared back.
The modern extension to the Palace of Westminster which had been opened in 2001, had suffered problem after problem with questions having been long raised over using the taxpayers’ money to fund the building which is made up of 213 offices for MPs and committee rooms surrounding a central atrium. This is frequented by gossiping politicians, staffers and journalists. The atrium is made up of expensive leather seats and sofas which cost £ 28,000 as well as a small restaurant called the Adjournment, the Debate Canteen and a coffee bar named the Despatch Box. The glass box that reaches sweltering temperatures in the summer is connected to the Houses of Parliament which are nearly a thousand years old, by escalators and a tunnel under the road next to Big Ben. Speaking about the leak, a spokesman to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that he had not seen the detail of what exactly had taken place there, and that was for the Parliamentary authorities to address in the first instance.
A spokesman for the House of Commons said that teams were currently attending to an issue with the roof of the atrium in Portcullis House and that the central part of the atrium was cordoned off, and additional safety mitigations were implemented to permit them to continue their investigations. He also stated that Committee meetings were still scheduled to take place with amended access routes while catering facilities remained open. The leak was likely to spark fears that taxpayers would have to once again foot the bill. It was mooted in 2018 that taxpayers could be walloped with a jumbo bill of £ 100 million to patch up PCH. The crumbling glass panel was the latest in a catalogue of catastrophes which have alarmed Westminster chiefs. Sir Vince Cable said at the time that project teams behind the £ 235 million flop should be sued to protect Joe Public from picking up the tab. The Lib Dem leader had written to Commons Speaker John Bercow and asked him to review whether architects Hopkins and structural engineers Arup are to be blamed, and if so he wanted to take the required legal action for damages to recoup costs to the taxpayer. Almost £ 30,000 of taxpayers’ money was splashed out in 2014 to replace just two panes of glass at the office block for MPs, and the staggering sum went on repairing the atrium roof which is broken once again.
