By July, estimates were rising towards £100m, as reported in New Civil Engineer. H&F Council described that figure as “bizarre” http://www.fulhamsw6.com/default.asp?section=info&page=hammersmithbridge003.htm
By October 2019, Labour H&F Council Leader says an “early estimate” would be £120m. So far more than the figure he had described as “bizarre” in July. https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/sites/default/files/article_attachments/hammersmith_bridge_repairs_letter_29_october_2019.pdf
So almost a quadrupling of costs in just 16 months, from £40m to £140m. And how much progress had Labour LBHF and Sadiq Khan’s TfL made in those 16 months?
Actually, it would appear that *no work at all* has been undertaken on the actual job in hand of repairing and reopening the Bridge.

But more than £10m had been spent on investigations & other temporary work.

http://content.tfl.gov.uk/board-20200318-agenda-and-papers.pdf
But we don’t know for sure what work has been carried out since the sudden closure in April 2019.

Why not? Because Hammersmith & Fulham Council is refusing to release it to me (a Government Minister) claiming “national security”.
So H&F Council is simultaneously seeking a Government bailout of their incompetence, whilst refusing to release details of the job in hand.

Throughout their approach has been clear: they simply don’t want to repair and re-open the Bridge.

It’s time they were honest with us.
You can follow @GregHands.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: