Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to
reconsider the decision to site the Holocaust Memorial in
Victoria Tower Gardens.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Levelling Up, Housing & Communities () (Con)
My Lords, I will take a minute to send my thoughts to the family
of Sir Ben Helfgott. Sir Ben was a Holocaust survivor and an
Olympic weightlifting champion. He was also a tireless campaigner
for Holocaust education and a huge supporter of the Holocaust
memorial and learning centre. I send my thoughts to his family;
may he rest in peace.
Noble Lords
Hear, hear.
(Con)
The Government remain determined to build a Holocaust memorial in
Victoria Tower Gardens so that the memory and lessons of the
Holocaust remain prominent in British life. The Holocaust
Memorial Bill currently before Parliament is intended to remove a
statutory obstacle and enable progress towards construction.
Victoria Tower Gardens is a site that is uniquely capable of
meeting the Government’s aspirations for a national Holocaust
memorial.
(LD)
My Lords, it is very sad that a memorial to such an appalling
crime against humanity should controversially be rammed through
against the views of the Royal Parks, Westminster City Council,
local residents and so many others. Apart from all the original
and obvious objections to the Victoria Tower Gardens site, there
are two new factors. First, we now face a major restoration
project to the Victoria Tower itself. The scaffolding alone is
going to take a year to erect. Imagine the scale of a chaotic
construction site with that project, the proposed memorial and,
of course, R&R to come.
Secondly, the unfortunate closure of the Jewish Museum London in
Camden provides a great opportunity for a new combined museum and
Holocaust memorial—a concept supported by Simon Schama, the
former , Rabbi Jonathan
Romain and many others—on a much more appropriate site. So I
implore the Government—
The Lord Privy Seal () (Con)
Would the noble Lord please proceed to a question? I know that
Peers feel strongly about this issue, but it is Question Time.
(LD)
I implore the Government to think again and preserve and protect
our very precious green space.
(Con)
My Lords, the memorial is a manifesto commitment which has
cross-party support and has been endorsed by all living Prime
Ministers. The Chief Rabbi, who sits on the UK Holocaust Memorial
Foundation comittee, is fully behind the Government’s proposals,
as are leading representatives of the Jewish community, other
faith and community leaders, survivors, refugees and the wider
public. Their voices were heard at the planning inquiry,
emphasising the importance of the memorial and learning centre as
a way of providing Holocaust victims and the remaining survivors
the prominence in this city that they deserve.
(CB)
My Lords—
(Con)
My Lords—
(Con)
My Lords, could we hear from the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, and
then the noble Lord, ?
(CB)
My Lords, I declare an interest as honorary president of the
National Jewish Assembly. I support the noble Lord, Lord Lee, in
drawing attention to the almost total lack of consultation on the
memorial. All efforts to open dialogue and to have discussions
and round tables have been met with silence, and sometimes abuse.
Victoria Tower Gardens is a green enclave, and the dangers of
digging down two storeys with piledrivers, which could cause
unimaginable damage, have not been taken on board when there are
decent alternative sites with as much dignity and more space. I
speak for a number of Holocaust survivors in this.
(Con)
I know how strongly the noble Baroness feels about this issue,
and I respect everything she has to say. We have had meetings and
we are willing to have more; she only has to get in touch with
me. However, the planning inquiry in October 2022 enabled all
interested parties to express their views on the proposed
Holocaust memorial and learning centre, and a full list of
witnesses is available in the planning inspector’s report on
GOV.UK. Officials regularly meet organisations representing
survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution and those
representing the survivors of subsequent genocides to discuss the
latest developments, and we will continue to do so.
(Con)
My Lords, I draw attention to my register of interests,
particularly those relating to Holocaust remembrance. I join my
noble friend in her tribute to Sir Ben Helfgott. He was, beside
other things, a leading light in Holocaust remembrance and a
strong advocate of the site in Victoria Tower Gardens. In fact,
the last conversation I had with Ben was about his concerns that
the Government and Opposition might not fulfil their promise.
Does my noble friend agree with me that the announcement made by
the Leader of the House in another place that there will be a
Second Reading next Wednesday is very welcome? The time for
talking is over; it is time for action.
(Con)
I agree with my noble friend. I look forward to the Second
Reading and the Bill beginning to go through Parliament and,
subsequently, to the building of this important monument.
of Ullock (Lab)
These Benches share the sentiments and the tribute made by the
Minister to Sir Ben. If it is built in Victoria Tower Gardens,
the memorial will clearly bring many new visitors to Westminster
and to Parliament, which I think is a good thing. However, local
residents will want to have a park that they can still be proud
of and use for their own recreation. How will the Government
ensure that the park is still available for local people to
enjoy?
(Con)
The design is sensitive to the heritage and the existing uses of
Victoria Tower Gardens; I think it has been misunderstood. The
design uses approximately 7.5% of the area of Victoria Tower
Gardens, and this project will allow enhancements to be made to
the remaining 92.5% of the park. In my opinion, that will help
visitors to enjoy the park better, even if they are not attending
the memorial.
(LD)
My Lords, I very much share the views of my noble friend Lord Lee
and the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, on this out-of-scale
proposal, especially in relation to the Buxton anti-slavery
memorial. Throughout the process, the Government have refused to
publish their assessment of any alternative sites, including some
which appear to be eminently suitable, such as the Imperial War
Museum—why? Will they do so during the consideration of the Bill?
(Con)
My Lords, all that work was done many years ago, in the early
days of this project. We believe that the development will not in
any way compromise the Buxton memorial. The design of the
Holocaust memorial means that the Buxton memorial will be kept in
its current position, with its views preserved. In addition, new
landscaping and seating will actually improve the setting of that
memorial and the viewing experience from it. The Holocaust
memorial will be no higher than the top of the Buxton memorial,
and the memorial’s bronze fins will step down progressively to
the east in visual deference to the Buxton memorial.
(Non-Afl)
My Lords, there is no more appropriate location for a memorial
that shows what can go wrong when politics is infected by
extremism, racism and hatred than here in Westminster, at the
centre of our politics. That is the whole point. We have heard
all sorts of red herrings about this memorial. It will take up
less than 10% of the area of the park, and it is at the opposite
end of the park to the Palace of Westminster so will have no
impact on the work that is to be done here. I take this
opportunity to urge the Minister to do everything she possibly
can to speed up progress so that Holocaust survivors like Sir
Ben, who tragically will not get to see it completed, can be
guests of honour at the opening.
(Con)
I thank the noble Lord for his support of this important project.
As he said, Victoria Tower Gardens is the most fitting site in
terms of the historical, emotional and political significance and
its ability to offer the greatest potential impact and visibility
for the project. The view of Parliament from the memorial will
serve as a permanent reminder that political decisions have
far-reaching consequences.
