MPs warn Parliament is at risk of a 'Notre Dame-style fire' while every year of repair delays costs taxpayers £420m

The Public Accounts Committee has warned that the Palace of Westminster faces a catastrophic fire or structural failure unless MPs commit urgently to a full restoration plan, with maintenance costs already running at £1.5m a week and set to hit £2m. Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the Conservative MP chairing the PAC, said MPs should picture "global rolling news footage of Notre Dame-like flames licking out of the building's roof." The committee's report, published Wednesday, calls for a parliamentary vote — delayed from Easter — to narrow four options down to two. Without action, the Grade I-listed Unesco world heritage site will fall into managed decline at best.

Every year of further delay adds £420m to the lifetime cost of the restoration programme, with the vote's postponement already costing taxpayers up to £290m.

The two leading options are a full decant lasting up to 24 years at £15.6bn, or a partial option costing up to £39bn over six decades.