A Conservative peer has been accused of using antisemitic tropes after saying in a debate in the Lords that Jewish people should pay for a proposed Holocaust memorial in London because they have “an awful lot of money”.
Archie Hamilton, who served as a minister under Margaret Thatcher and John Major and was made a peer in 2005, was criticised after the debate, which was about whether to put the memorial and education centre in Victoria Tower Gardens, next to parliament.
Lord Hamilton said he lived nearby and the park was too small for the memorial, before adding: “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.”
Ian Austin, a former Labour MP who now sits as a crossbench peer, intervened to say the memorial was not one for the Jewish community but “for everybody”.
Hamilton replied: “I take that point, but the driving forces behind putting up this memorial are the Jewish people in this country. They are people who have property everywhere. I do not see why they should not fund it.”
The peer added that he had “plenty of Jewish blood, and I am a member of the Conservative Friends of Israel”.
Austin said afterwards that Hamilton’s comments were “completely unacceptable” and that the Conservatives should take action.
He said: “How many antisemitic caricatures is it possible to get in one speech? It is shocking to hear comments like this in a debate about the Holocaust. It shows that antisemitism remains a real problem – even in parliament – but it does show why a memorial that focuses on anti-Jewish racism is still necessary.”
Danny Stone, the chief executive of the Antisemitism Policy Trust, which works with parliamentarians and others, said: “Not only were Lord Hamilton’s comments ill-judged, racist and false, 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.”
Hamilton issued a statement on Wednesday evening saying he wished to withdraw his comments during the debate and apologise.
“My remarks were not intended to be antisemitic and I apologise unreservedly,” he said. “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.”
The site for the memorial and education centre was approved in 2021 after a public inquiry, eight years after David Cameron’s government announced the idea.
While the decision was backed by many Jewish groups, some people said the decision to use a relatively small green space was mistaken. Among the opponents was the crossbench peer Ruth Deech, whose father fled the Nazis.
Speaking in the same Lords debate as Hamilton, Deech said she wanted to bring some “fiscal discipline” to a project she said could now cost more than £190m.
The Conservative party were contacted for comment.
Source: theguardian.com
