Greg Hands, Member of Parliament for Chelsea and Fulham, welcomes the Prime Minister’s announcement of funding for two memorials to British victims of terrorism.
On 5 July, the Prime Minister announced that funding will be made available for a memorial dedicated to the thirty British victims of the recent terror attack in Tunisia, as well as for a separate site of remembrance for all UK nationals killed in acts of terror overseas.
Greg Hands also took the opportunity to remember the fifty-two victims and scores of survivors of the 7/7 London bombings on their tenth anniversary, which was also marked by a wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial in Hyde Park and a national service of commemoration at St Paul’s Cathedral.
In particular, Greg Hands remembered the life of 7/7 victim Giles Hart, who had been an active and leading member of the Polish Solidarity Campaign of Great Britain, championing freedom and human rights in Poland during its years of communism. Greg attended the unveiling of a memorial to Giles Hart in Ravenscourt Park, Hammersmith, in 2008, when he was Member of Parliament for Hammersmith & Fulham.
Greg said, “Last week’s attack in Tunisia came as a terrible shock, and served as proof that the threat from terrorism is as real as it is deadly, even ten years after the 7/7 bombings in London. It is right and just that we unite as a country to remember all of the British people who have been killed as a result of terrorist atrocities abroad.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones they leave behind, and I gather that the families of those killed in Sousse will play a pivotal role in the location and design of the memorial. I am grateful for the efforts that my colleague, the Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood, has put in to secure a single national memorial to all victims of terrorism overseas, especially in light of the personal experience he has suffered as a result of terrorism.
“I am also reassured by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s Summer Budget, which puts security first by investing in defence and committing to meet the NATO pledge of spending 2% of national income on defence every year of this decade. This means that we can carry on doing our best to keep the British public and our British values safe.”
Greg Hands was also pleased to note that the Summer Budget announced that the Victims of Terrorism Memorial would be receiving £1 million from banking fines levied by the Financial Conduct Authority and reserved for good causes.