Supreme Court 'must be given £50m home'

The Lord Chief Justice today threatened to oppose the proposed new Supreme Court unless it was given a prestigious £50 million home.

The demand by Lord Woolf raised a fresh question mark over Tony Blair's constitutional reforms which have already led to rows between judges, ministers and peers.

"Until there's new money to pay for a supreme court, I will be against it," he warned. "I cannot believe a worthwhile supreme court could be established for under £50 million."

Proposals for a US-style supreme court to become the highest judicial authority in the land were rushed out in last year's "botched reshuffle" which also saw plans to scrap the role of Lord Chancellor.

Lord Woolf declared that too many court buildings were already so shabby they diminished the importance of the judicial system.

He said: "There are courts up and down the country which don't give the proper message of the importance of justice. I am saying: Priorities, please."

Conservative legal spokesman Alan Duncan predicted a fiasco.

He said: "How many Domes am I bid for this folly? We have no doubt that the cost will grow and grow."