Planning application for the UK’s new Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre has been submitted.

Yesterday (19 December 2018) a planning application for the UK’s new Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre has been submitted to Westminster city council.

A fundraising effort for the Memorial will be led by philanthropist Gerald Ronson CBE, who will set up a new charity to support its delivery.

The Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre has been proposed for Victoria Tower Gardens next to Parliament.

The design for the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre has been developed over the past year. It has been done in consultation with Holocaust and other genocide survivors, communities of a range of faiths and backgrounds, local residents, businesses and key experts from landscape design to Holocaust education.

Images of the final design were released on 4 December 2018, alongside a Mission Statement setting out the UK Holocaust Memorial’s commitment to stand up against antisemitism, prejudice and hatred in all its forms.

By setting history’s worst example of the disintegration of democratic values against the greatest emblem of Britain’s aspirations for democracy, it will stand as a permanent reminder of the responsibilities of citizens to be vigilant and responsive whenever and wherever those values are threatened.

Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said:

The Memorial will be a place of reflection and education in the exceptional setting of Victoria Tower Gardens, and act as a commitment for all of us to stand up whenever our shared values are threatened.

The planning application submitted today is a key milestone in this important national programme that will deliver a national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre at the heart of our civic and democratic life.

Details of the design scheme

In 2016 Prime Minister Theresa May launched a design competition for a Memorial and underground Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens, adjacent to Parliament in Westminster.

The winning scheme was proposed by a team led by architects Adjaye Associates, with Ron Arad Architects as Memorial Architect, and Gustafson Porter + Bowman as Landscape Architect. Their proposal set out to create “a living place, not just a monument to something of the past” and the desire to create an immersive journey for the visitor who would enter a Memorial embedded in the landscape of the Gardens.

The jury found the proposal deftly resolved an essential challenge of the brief: being visually arresting (“highly visible from near and far”) yet showing sensitivity to its location and context (“a bold and sensitive collaboration between architecture, landscape, art and design”). The design was found to have clear potential to be developed into an iconic memorial and powerful educational experience, welcoming visitors from the UK and beyond to learn and reflect.

The final design for the Memorial and Learning Centre consists of 23 bronze fins to the southern end of the Gardens. Visitors will walk through an entrance pavilion, then across a courtyard where they will be confronted with views of Parliament’s Victoria Tower. The Learning Centre, accessed by pathways set between the fins, is an integral part of the Memorial. Visitors will leave with an improved understanding of the Holocaust and its impact on the United Kingdom and people who live here or came to live here following a genocide.

The landscape design embeds the Memorial within the park and includes a new intervention – a subtle but distinct slope which creates a new vantage point to the River Thames, a renewed perspective and relationship to the Memorial, and a distinctive entry point for an underground Learning Centre. This subtle shift in the landscape also allows for all existing memorials within the gardens to remain visible whilst key views into Westminster are undisturbed.

It is expected that consultation letters on the proposal will be sent out from Westminster city council in the new year.

See information on the final designs presented at the latest public exhibition.

A Mission Statement was set out for the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre on 4 December 2018.

Mohamed Jama has had the minimum term of his life sentence increased following the Solicitor General’s Unduly Lenient Sentence referral.

A man who stabbed and killed a passer-by has today had his sentence increased after the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP, referred it for being too low.

Mohamed Jama, 22, brandished a knife and threatened members of the public as he, Musa Jama and Sadik Djama headed into Glodwick to avenge an attack on Musa Jama. On the way, an argument broke out with Mohammed Nabeel Hassan, 22, who was walking past, and the group began punching and kicking the victim. As the fight escalated, Mohamed Jama stabbed the victim in the chest, killing him. The 3 men then ran off, laughing, and disposed of the knives.

Mohamed Jama was originally sentenced in October to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years at Manchester Crown Court. Today, the Court of Appeal has increased his minimum term to 22 years.

Commenting on the increase, the Solicitor General said:

“Mohamed Jama went out that day armed with a knife, and as a result a young man was killed. The original sentence failed to take proper account of the seriousness of the offence and the harm that can be caused when such weapons are carried. I am pleased the Court has increased the sentence.”

EU citizens living in the UK who have a valid passport will be able to take part in a public test phase of the EU Settlement Scheme.

From 21 January 2019, EU citizens, as well as their non-EU citizen family members who hold a valid biometric residence card, will be able to apply for the immigration status they will need once the UK has left the EU. By applying during this test phase, they will also provide valuable insight into how the system is performing so that further improvements can be made before the scheme is fully rolled out from March 2019.

The public testing follows a successful private beta phase with employees in the higher education, health and social care sectors.

Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes said:

Securing the rights of EU citizens living in the UK has always been our priority.

We are well on track to deliver a system that will make it easy and straightforward for them to obtain status once we have left the EU and continue to live their lives much as they do now.

This is a completely voluntary test phase, which will give us valuable insight into how the system works and if any changes need to be made before the full launch.

The EU Settlement Scheme will be fully open by 30 March 2019, and EU citizens will have until 30 June 2021 to apply, in line with the draft Withdrawal Agreement.

The expansion has been announced through changes to the Immigration Rules. The Rules are accompanied by some initial findings of how the scheme performed during the second private beta test phase. Feedback during that phase, which ends on 21 December 2018, has so far been positive.

By 13 December 2018, more than 15,500 applications had been made and more than 12,400 of these had been concluded. 71% of the concluded applications were granted settled status and the rest were granted pre-settled status. Many of the applicants received their decision within 24 hours. We will publish a full report in January 2019.

The new, wider test phase will again require applicants to prove their identity by using the EU Exit: Identity Document Check app which is part of the integrated online application process. There will also be support for EU citizens who might need additional help in making their application.

Read further information on the EU Settlement Scheme.