King's Speech 2023 - Holocaust Memorial Bill (carried over)

Holocaust Memorial Bill

“My Government is committed to tackling antisemitism and ensuring that the Holocaust is never forgotten. A bill will progress the construction of a national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens.”

• We must do everything we can to ensure the Holocaust is never forgotten and antisemitism is driven out of our society. The barbaric attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians on 7 October 2023 and the rise in antisemitism in the days and weeks after serves as a reminder that we must never give up doing so.

• Our Holocaust Memorial Bill will support the building of a national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in the heart of our democracy, next to the Houses of Parliament. It will be a focal point for national remembrance of the Holocaust, dedicated to the six million Jewish men, women and children and all other victims of the Nazis and their collaborators.

What does the Bill do?

• The Holocaust Memorial Bill enables the Government to deliver its manifesto commitment to build the planned Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre.

• Located next to the Houses of Parliament, the memorial will serve as a powerful reminder to the whole nation of the Holocaust and its victims.

• This memorial will rightly sit at the heart of our democracy, next to Parliament, and will act as an inspiration to the whole nation for generations to come.

• The Holocaust Memorial Bill:
• • authorises expenditure on the construction, maintenance and operation of the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre;
  • disapplies the relevant sections of the London County Council (Improvements) Act 1900, ensuring that this legislation does not serve to further block the building of a memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens.

• The Holocaust Memorial Bill is a hybrid Bill which means that people who are directly, and specially, affected have the opportunity in each House of Parliament to petition against the Bill, and to be heard by a Select Committee.

Territorial extent and application

• The Bill will extend to England and Wales and apply to England.

Key facts

• The commitment to build a Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre was first made in January 2015 and has been endorsed by all living prime ministers.

• The design is sensitive to the heritage and existing uses of Victoria Tower Gardens. The Memorial and Learning Centre will take up approximately 7.5 per cent of the park, while making enhancements to the remainder of the gardens that will help all visitors including better pathways and improved access to existing memorials.

• Incidents of antisemitism, recorded by the Community Security Trust (CST), rise in correlation to escalations of violence in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. This has been further demonstrated by a huge rise in reported antisemitic incidents following Hamas’s attack on Israel - the Metropolitan Police recorded an over 1000% rise in antisemitic incidents compared to the last year.

• This sits alongside the Government’s wider package to tackle antisemitism and remembering the horrors of the Holocaust including:
• • the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant provides protective security measures (such as guarding, CCTV and alarm systems) at Jewish schools, colleges, nurseries, and some other Jewish community sites, as well as a number of synagogues;
  • in March 2023, the Home Secretary announced the continuation of the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant, and increased funding for 2023-2024 by £1 million, to a total of £15 million. In October 2023, in the wake of Hamas’s barbaric attack on Israel, the Prime Minister announced increased funding of

£3 million for The Community Security Trust to increase patrols;