The Herald

A prominent architect denounced restoration work on Queensberry House, in the heart of the troubled Holyrood project, as a "conservation disaster" and warned politicians they were in danger of becoming a "high-profile laughing stock", the Fraser inquiry heard yesterday. James Simpson, a partner at Simpson & Brown architects, told Scottish Office civil servants the entire Scottish Parliament project had been motivated by "self-indulgence" and should have been brought to a halt as early as mid-1999.