Britain's new government commits to building Holocaust memorial

By Sachin Ravikumar

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's new Labour government said on Wednesday it would build a Holocaust memorial and learning centre next to the Houses of Parliament in London, committing to a longstanding pledge dogged by controversy.

First proposed nearly a decade ago under the previous Conservative administration, the Holocaust memorial was intended to honour the memory of the more than six million Jews and other victims killed by the Nazis and their collaborators in World War Two.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government plans to bring forward the Holocaust Memorial Bill, which authorises the cost for the project and disapplies a law dating back to 1900 that prevents its proposed location from being used as anything other than a public garden.

"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," the government said in a briefing document accompanying the King's Speech, setting out its legislative agenda.

Last year was the worst year for antisemitism in Britain since records began in 1984, with thousands of incidents reported following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in October, according to a Jewish advisory body.

Labour's commitment to the memorial also follows Starmer's efforts to root out antisemitism from his party after a report in 2020 that found serious failings in how it dealt with complaints of anti-Jewish discrimination.

Starmer has also defended Israel's right to self-defence in the war in Gaza, angering of some of Labour's Muslim supporters.

The original proposal from 2015 had called for a "striking and prominent" national memorial and a "world-class learning centre" and identified Victoria Tower Gardens, just south of parliament, as the location for the memorial.

It has since faced legal challenges over its location and criticism over its proposed design, purpose and costs, including from survivors of the Holocaust and their family members.

Some critics have likened the design, which features nearly two dozen tall bronze "fins" to symbolise the countries with Jewish communities destroyed by the Holocaust, to a "toast rack" and others have said it would block the views of parliament from the gardens.

(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; editing by Michael Holden)