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MPs spent £480,000 on bar that is now creche
Miranda Bryant22 Feb 2010
The House of Commons spent £480,000 of taxpayers' money renovating a bar that is now being closed.
Bellamy's bar in the Palace of Westminster will now be converted into a nursery at a further cost of £400,000.
The House of Commons Commission, chaired by speaker John Bercow, also spent nearly
£5 million renting an empty office block in Westminster.
Figures released by Parliament show the Commons refurbished the bar between July 2007 and September 2008. But just before Christmas it was announced that it would be converted.
A Commission spokesman said: “Bellamy's was decided as the best place for the nursery.” One MP called it a “scandalous” waste of taxpayers' money.
Reader views (3)
Didn't Speaker Bercow say his kids needed somewhere in the Palace of Westminster to play?
- Trevor Morgan, Haddenham, Bucks., UK, 23/02/2010 08:28
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I sincerely hope MPs are not receiving free nursery places for their offspring. If they are, then the electorate must be informed who they are so that we can refuse to vote for them in June. Any money spent on converting the bar must be deducted from MPs' salaries.
- R.F.York, Yorks, UK, 22/02/2010 14:08
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Well no doubt when the MP's from ethnic minorities from Cameruin's Conservative party flood in after the next election, they will need a Nursery for the children expected as part of EU mandate.
- Bill, Hove Sus~sex, 22/02/2010 13:28
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