First, I thank the Holocaust Memorial Bill Select Committee for its very hard work. That Committee was excellently chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for Carlisle (John Stevenson), and its report makes for interesting reading. It was clear that that cross-party and impartial Committee shares many of the concerns that I and many of my constituents hold.
I would go as far as to say that the Committee’s findings mirror our own criticisms of the Government’s handling of the whole question of the merits of building a Holocaust memorial and learning centre in Victoria Tower Gardens. Those are that no proper consultation or assessment took place of the merits of Victoria Tower Gardens as a proposed location; there is no grip on the costs to build it or to maintain it once completed, specifically the cost to the public purse of the ongoing security that will be required; and no thought has been given to security plans for protecting the park, its visitors, or the children’s playground at a time of heightened national security risk.
I wish to speak to amendments 2, 3 and 5, as well as new clause 2, which stand in my name. I also wish to speak in favour of new clause 1 and amendment 1, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Carlisle and to which I have added my name. As we reach the Committee stage of this hybrid Bill on the proposal to build a Holocaust memorial and learning centre in Victoria Tower Gardens, a small but much-loved park in my constituency of the Cities of London and Westminster, I wish to reiterate my long-held view that this is the right memorial but the wrong location. I say that as a huge supporter of the Jewish community not only in my constituency but across the nation. I have friends who would not be here if their families had not escaped eastern Europe during the 1930s and ’40s. One of my closest friends, Daniel Astaire, certainly would not be here because his grandmother was one of the final children on the Kindertransport and she lost her entire family in what is now the Czech Republic.
Having read last summer the outstanding book by Lord Finkelstein, “Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad”—I recommend everybody read that brilliant book—I concluded that we really do need a Holocaust memorial in this country to remind ourselves of past events but also to pay homage to the many British Jews still affected by the Holocaust and who lost so many of their families. This is not about being anti the brilliant idea of a Holocaust memorial, but about its location only.
The Select Committee report concluded that no public consultation was undertaken regarding possible locations for the memorial. In fact, Victoria Tower Gardens came about as the idea of an unnamed individual. We cannot permit such a precedent to stand: that an individual and then a Committee can decide on a location for such an important memorial without proper consultation. New clause 2 would require the Secretary of State to carry out a consultation on the potential merits of alternative sites for the Holocaust memorial. I absolutely believe—and find it astonishing—that no such consultation was carried out before Victoria Tower Gardens was chosen as the Government’s preferred location.
When the Holocaust memorial was first mooted, it was suggested, as my hon. Friend the Member for Carlisle and the Father of the House, my hon. Friend the Member for Worthing West (Sir Peter Bottomley) have said, that the Imperial War Museum, less than a mile from Parliament, would be an appropriate location. I have visited the Imperial War Museum, including its outstanding Holocaust galleries and exhibitions, numerous times and I believe tourists, school groups and others would sincerely benefit from being able, having visited the galleries, to then spend time in a garden of the Imperial War Museum, which I believe would make an appropriate location for the Holocaust memorial.
I remember the first time I visited the Holocaust galleries: I came out after what was a very harrowing experience—a real human harrowing experience—and felt I wanted to sit down and reflect on what I had seen. I absolutely think that having the Holocaust memorial in the Imperial War Museum gardens would be appropriate, because after visitors see the exhibits in the museum they need time to reflect and remember those who have been lost.
With such a major proposal as the Holocaust memorial and learning centre, it is imperative that those who would be directly impacted by the construction and then the continuing existence of such an installation—local residents, local businesses, organisations and relevant public bodies—should have been, and should still be, properly consulted.
We should also hear the voices of those who have been directly impacted by the atrocities of the Holocaust that took place across eastern Europe during the 1930s and ’40s, and the subsequent genocides across the world that we have witnessed since then. Indeed, the Select Committee heard from Holocaust survivors who expressed objections to Victoria Tower Gardens as the chosen location.
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If we had a consultation, I think we would confirm the public’s view on the merits of locating the memorial and learning centre at Victoria Tower Gardens, and allow for a full debate on alternative locations that may or may not prove to be more appropriate. I have mentioned the Imperial War Museum, but it does not have to be there. It could be anywhere across our capital, or across the nation—this is, after all, a national memorial. Nevertheless, if after a consultation Victoria Tower Gardens was chosen, I am sure that the plan would receive more good will from local people.
I was interested to note in the special report of the Holocaust Memorial Bill Select Committee that many petitioners had voiced their dismay at the lack of consultation. It highlighted their view that, if a proper consultation had taken place about sites and Victoria Tower Gardens had come out on top, it would have been considered more legitimate. From my many conversations with constituents over the years since this memorial was first suggested, as a counsellor and now as an MP, I have found that what local people want is the confidence that this project is not being steamrollered into being without due consideration, and that a full and proper consultation is undertaken.
So much time has passed since the idea of a Holocaust memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens was first mooted that any proposals are more than likely to be out of date. I think I had my first meeting about the proposal in 2016, as leader of Westminster Council, and we are now eight years on. The costs have clearly skyrocketed with inflation and other pressures on construction. The surrounding area has changed and it continues to change dramatically. For example, the roundabout on the north side of Lambeth bridge is undergoing a fundamental change, which will have consequences for local traffic flow and management.
Since the proposal was suggested, we have seen the development of residential areas on that roundabout; what were once offices now house scores of residents who would be immediately affected by having such an important memorial in their local park. We have to take all sorts of issues into consideration, and there may also have been changes to the water table after the past decade of our living with climate change. Obviously, the security concerns in this part of London have sadly increased in recent times, which I will speak about later.
After so much change in the past decade, since the planning application for this installation was made, I consider that it is likely to be out of date. If we are all honest, a new application should really be made to
address the developments that have occurred since and to respond to many of the concerns raised in the Select Committee’s report. For all these reasons, I believe a complete review of the proposal is required, combined with a consultation on the location. Perhaps that is more important than ever before.
The special report from the Select Committee makes it clear that local people are concerned about the environmental impact, and I have therefore tabled amendment 2, which is designed to reduce the damage to Victoria Tower Gardens. This park is a special place for many people. Local residents of course frequent the gardens as their neighbourhood green space, but also many parliamentarians, parliamentary staff, journalists and others find much-needed solace in the park during lunchtime and after work. I have to tell the House that I have been invited to Victoria Tower Gardens this evening to do several interviews, which I may not be doing, but it has always been a favoured place for the media and journalists to undertake interviews.