A dozen fig trees rented to shade MPs as they linger over coffee and lunch have cost taxpayers almost £400,000, it was revealed yesterday.
The staggering extravagance as the Tory-led Coalition inflicts savage cuts on the poor has sparked cross-party fury.
Labour’s Thomas Docherty said: “I don’t think MPs will be aware of this arrangement and I will be asking questions about it.”
The weeping fig trees – ficus benjamina – were planted in the glass-roofed courtyard of Portcullis House 11 years ago.
The block, which is joined to the Commons by an underground tunnel, is already the subject of an inquiry after building costs soared from £165million to £235million.
The original five-year contract for the trees – evergreens with glossy leaves and a smooth light-grey bark – was worth £150,000, but Freedom of Information requests have revealed they are still being rented from Plantcare UK for £32,500 a year, or almost £90 a day...
Rob Wilson, Conservative MP for Reading East, blames the previous Government in the Telegraph, but whichever side was responsible for the trees, they are a shocking waste of taxpayers' money.
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