A Conservative peer in the House of Lords has been condemned after he claimed Jewish people should pay for a new Holocaust memorial themselves because they have “an awful lot of money”. He made reference to the common antisemitic trope during a debate about whether central London should get a new monument commemorating the Nazi genocide.
While many parliamentarians are broadly supportive of the scheme, some concerns remain about whether the particular park proposed is the best location. Archie Hamilton, a former minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government, said that Victoria Gardens next to Parliament is too small for the proposal. He added: “I do not understand why the government have volunteered taxpayers’ money, when there is so little of it, to finance this.
“The Jewish community in Britain has an awful lot of money. It has a lot of education charities that would contribute towards this.
“I do not understand why they should not pay for their own memorial.”
The comments were immediately condemned on a number of fronts, with the Antisemitism Policy Trust slamming them as “ill-judged, racist and false”.
Chief executive Danny Stone said they “betrayed a lack of knowledge and understanding about the Jewish community and what the Holocaust memorial is for”.
“It is shocking that his slur was not challenged by those leading the debate. We will be working with parliamentarians to ensure this appalling rhetoric does not remain unchallenged.”
Tory peer Danny Finkelstein said: “The noble Lord cannot stand up here and say, ‘The Jews want the Holocaust memorial, and they ought to pay for it’.”
“The Holocaust is not something that is just about the Jews.”
Lord Hamilton hit back that he has “plenty of Jewish blood”.
Former Labour MP Ian Austin pointed out that the Holocaust memorial would be fore everybody, not just Britain’s Jewish community.
Lord Hamilton has now withdrawn the comments and issued an apology.
He said: “My remarks were not intended to be antisemitic, and I apologise unreservedly.
“With hindsight, having read my comments, I realise that my remarks were insensitive and I apologise. I intend to meet with groups from the Jewish community in order to understand how to communicate about issues affecting British Jews.”
A Conservative Party spokesman said that the comments were “completely unacceptable and flagrantly antisemitic”, adding: “We condemn them utterly.”
However, the party has not stripped the Peer of the whip, which is the harshest punishment they can dish out.
Lord Austin demanded the Tories “take proper action to deal with this.”
The cost of the monument is now projected to be £138.8 million.
