Holocaust memorial ‘will rightly sit at heart of democracy by Parliament’

Labour has affirmed its commitment to support the building of a national Holocaust memorial beside Parliament , as the new Government pledged to “fight antisemitism and all forms of hatred and prejudice in our society”.

The Holocaust Memorial Bill, announced as part of the King’s Speech on Wednesday, will follow through on a longstanding commitment to build the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens in London.

A vow to build the memorial was first made in January 2015, but the plan ran into difficulties over a 1900 law protecting the parkland.

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

Planning permission was granted in July 2021 after a public inquiry and the recommendations of planning inspector David Morgan.

But it was challenged in the High Court by the London Historic Parks and Gardens Trust, which argued against building the centre on the small triangular Grade II-listed park to the south of Parliament.

The London County Council (Improvements) Act 1900 required the land to be used as a public park.

The Holocaust Memorial Bill will both authorise expenditure on the construction, maintenance and operation of the memorial and learning centre, and also disapply sections of the 1900 Act, removing the legal obstacle that has prevented the project from going ahead.

The previous Conservative government had also pledged to do this in the King’s Speech in November.

The new Government said: “This memorial will rightly sit at the heart of our democracy, next to Parliament, and will act as an inspiration to the whole country for generations to come.”

It said the gardens will remain open to the public, with only a small area taken up by the memorial, and that the design is sensitive to the heritage and existing uses of the gardens.

Noting the rise in antisemitic incidents recorded by the Metropolitan Police after the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 last year, the Government said: “We must do everything we can to ensure that the Holocaust is never forgotten and to fight antisemitism and all forms of hatred and prejudice in our society.”