UK Parliament to Provide 650 iPads to MPs Costing $420,000

In a bid to allow UK members of Parliament to work on the go, and to also reduce the amount waste that comes from printing, the iPad has been allowed in the House of Commons for over a year now. Now apparently the tale has taken another twist as the Palace of Westminster has agreed to provide 650 members of Parliament with iPads only if they agree to a trade-in of their old laptops or computers which could then be distributed to other staff members in the House.

According to the report, the cost of providing 650 iPads would total £260,000 ($420,000) in taxpayer’s money. The Common’s Commission which agreed to the plan yesterday said that if a hundred politicians returned their old computers, it was looking at savings of £50,000 ($80,875). As of now, it is not known if MPs will be provided with 3G-enabled iPads in the UK and whether things like app downloads and other tablet or carrier-related costs will also be charged to the House and therefore the taxpayers.