National Memorial for the British victims of overseas terrorism to be unveiled by Summer 2017
The Prime Minister has announced a new National Memorial for British citizens killed in terror attacks overseas.
- Prime Minister David Cameron reveals that memorial will be sited at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire
- A panel with experience of commissioning art, led by Baroness Lynda Chalker, will volunteer their time to select an artist and design
- A consultation will also be launched on a separate memorial to victims of the Sousse and Bardo attacks in Tunisia
A National Memorial for British citizens killed in terror attacks overseas will be established by Summer 2017, the Prime Minister has announced today.
Speaking from the NATO summit in Warsaw, the Prime Minister said that the Memorial will be sited at the National Memorial Arboretum, part of the Royal British Legion, in Staffordshire.
It comes after the Prime Minister announced, in July last year, that a commemorative monument to honour victims of terrorist atrocities overseas would be built on British soil.
A panel with experience of commissioning art will now invite a small number of artists to submit proposals for the memorial, before selecting the final design. The panel, which will volunteer its time for free, is expected to be established by August.
The Prime Minister has also announced the launch of a consultation on a separate memorial to victims of the Sousse and Bardo attacks in Tunisia.
This consultation will be the first and most significant step in the process of formally seeking views from the Sousse and Bardo families on the sort of location, look and feel of the memorial they would like to commemorate their loved ones.
The Sousse attack in 2015 was the worst incident of terrorism involving British citizens since the 7/7 attacks in London.
The Prime Minister said:
These memorials will be places where the family and friends of people killed in terrorist attacks can reflect and remember. By building them we are underlining our pledge to never forget the victims of these atrocities.
An attack on British people anywhere in the world is an attack on us all. But these memorials will also stand as proof that we will not give up our way of life in the face of terrorism wherever it may be.
Mike Haines, brother of David Haines a humanitarian worker who was murdered by Daesh in 2014, said:
The location of the National Memorial for Victims of Overseas Terrorism at the National Memorial Arboretum will give those families like mine, who have suffered the loss of a loved one, a place to come together to share our grief and good memories of the people we have lost.
The families who have been torn apart by the acts of terrorism overseas now have a place of peace and remembrance. It will be the place where our loss, grief and our love will bring us closer together and where the innocent victims of terrorism can be mourned.
The fact that this was a public consultation with overwhelming support for the National Arboretum shows how much our loved ones have been taken to the hearts of the people of Great Britain. As well as being a focal point for loved ones I hope that the National Memorial will epitomise that we have to unite to overcome the hatred of terrorism, which only seeks to sow division and hatred.
The location of the Sousse and Bardo memorial and other details will be decided after the consultation has concluded.
An online public consultation was launched for the National Memorial in January this year by Tobias Ellwood MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It sought views from those who may have been affected by an incident of overseas terror, and also from the general public.
The consultation ran until March 2016 and a summary of the responses will now be published online.
The costs of both memorials will be met from fines levied on banks by the Financial Conduct Authority. The National Memorial will be dedicated to all British victims of overseas terrorism and will stand to honour any future victims.
Further information
The government has today published:
Other members of the panel which will select the artist and design are: Aaron Cezar, Director, Delfina Foundation; Caroline Douglas, Director, Contemporary Art Society; Penny Johnson CBE, Director, Government Art Collection; Keith Lane, previously medical planner with the Royal Air Force and project manager with Cruse Bereavement Care; and, Sandy Nairne CBE FSA, writer and curator, former Director of the National Portrait Gallery.
On 30 November 2016, the Chairman of the Panel, Baroness Chalker, provided an update to all those who had responded to the online consultation and asked to be kept informed of progress. You can read the letter .