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The Houses of Parliament should be turned into a museum and MPs moved into a new building, shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said today.

He argued the new House should have a semi-circular chamber to foster “less confrontational” debates. Instead of Labour and Conservatives facing each other, MPs should sit in regional groups to promote cross-party co-operation.

“How in 2015 is it that we are carrying on with a Commons that cannot even seat all its members? How can we continue with a chamber that nurtures the ridiculous tribalism that switches so many people off?” he demanded.

The public already faces a bill of up to £7 billion to repair the crumbling Palace of Westminster and MPs are being urged to move out temporarily. Mr Umunna, who dramatically abandoned his bid for the Lab our leadership three days after launching it, said it was a “wonderful opportunity” to leave.

“It’s a beautiful building and it often feels like you are in a museum. So why don’t we turn it into a museum? I think that would change the nature of debate. Sketchwriters would hate it,” he added. A possible site could be the QEII conference centre near Big Ben.

Former deputy speaker Nigel Evans said: “America has the sort of chamber he is talking about — sterile and boring. Politics is by nature confrontational.”

But Baroness Jones of the Green Party said: “The whole mouse-infested, confusing and messy Victorian building needs a drastic overhaul. I’d decamp to Buckingham Palace, which is woefully underused.”