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| Conservative peer accused of using antisemitic tropes in Lords debate | Conservative peer accused of using antisemitic tropes in Lords debate |
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| Archie Hamilton said Jewish community in Britain ‘has an awful lot of money’ and should pay for proposed Holocaust memorial | |
| 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.” | “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.” | 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”. | 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. | 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.” | 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. | 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.” | “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.” |
| 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. | 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. | 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. |
| Hamilton and the Conservative party were contacted for comment. | Hamilton and the Conservative party were contacted for comment. |