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Baroness Deech hits out at Holocaust memorial plan ahead of public inquiry
The peer argued that the memorial amounted to a ‘Jewish tragedy… being used for a political project’
October 5, 2020 16:05
The peer argued that the memorial amounted to a ‘Jewish tragedy… being used for a political project’
October 5, 2020 16:05Baroness Ruth Deech has laid out her opposition to plans to build a Holocaust memorial and learning centre in Westminster the day before a public inquiry is due to begin on the proposal.
The £100 million project, to be the subject of a live-streamed public inquiry on Tuesday, has drawn the support of London Mayor Sadiq Khan and several living prime ministers.
But conservation groups have voiced concerns about its design and location, warning of a potentially harmful impact on Victoria Tower Gardens, a Grade II listed park.
Wading into the row this week, Baroness Deech reiterated previous criticism and said the “Jewish tragedy is being used for a political project.”
She also warned the memorial would neither stamp out antisemitism nor serve the UK’s Jewish community in the future.
“It is not by fetishising the UK Parliament as the cradle of democracy and bulwark against evil that we will overcome centuries of Jew hatred, but by effective teaching,” the cross bench peer said.
She noted the Labour leader’s recent backing for the project but added it comes amid an ongoing Equality and Human Rights Commission investigation into allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party.
Sir Keir Starmer threw his weight behind the memorial last week, urging the planning inspector “to recognise the national significance of this project.”
His endorsement, she claimed, “illustrates the way such a memorial can be used: paying respect to 6 million murdered Jews does not excuse failing to respect today’s Jews.”
Sir Keir has been praised by Jewish groups over his efforts to mend relations with the community and root out alleged antisemitism from the party. A report into the equality watchdog’s findings is expected later this year.
Meanwhile, a group of academics specialising in refugee policy and Holocaust education expressed their opposition to the proposal and its location last week.
A letter from the group to the planning inspector drew dozens of signatures from scholars up and down the country.
Its authors argued the memorial would overpower existing memorials commemorating the suffragette Emmeline Pankhurt and the slave trade abolitionist Thomas Fowell Buxton.
They called instead for further investment in research, education material, teacher development programmes and “research-informed public history initiatives.”