'Tree-spotting' former MP agreed Portcullis figs deal

The former MP who agreed to rent 12 fig trees to shade politicians in their offices lists "tree spotting" as a hobby and led a tree planting campaign, the Evening Standard can reveal.

Sir Sydney Chapman defended the decision to hire the weeping figs for Portcullis House at a cost of more than £30,000 a year, as it emerged he instigated the "Plant a Tree In '73" campaign as a strain of Dutch elm disease swept Britain.

The 76-year-old former Tory MP chaired the Tree Council, which was set up after the 1973 campaign, and also served as president of the Arboricultural Association for six years, which promotes the care and knowledge of trees in the UK. His entry in Who's Who lists his recreation as "tree spotting".

Evening Standard revealed yesterday how taxpayers are footing a bill of almost £400,000 to rent the trees under an arrangement set up 12 years ago. The revelation saw parliamentary authorities attacked for profligacy.

As chairman of the Commons Accommodation and Works committee from 1997 to 2001, Sir Sydney oversaw the building of the £230 million block - which was the subject of an inquiry when costs soared - and approved the installation of the fig trees, which were imported from Florida.

But he claimed the decision was made on the advice of civil servants who said it was better to rent them so that any trees that died could be replaced easily. He told the Standard: "Of course we wanted native British trees. But we had to go for semi-tropical ones because of the conditions inside the glass atrium."

Sir Sydney, who was MP for Birmingham Handsworth from 1970 to 1974 and for Chipping Barnet from 1979 to 2005, has previously defended the tree-rental contract, denying they could have been installed on the cheap.

Sir Sydney also defended the committee's running of the Portcullis House project. He said: "It came about£17 million under the final budget, which was about £250 million."