Lord Pickles ‘desperate’ for construction of UK Holocaust memorial to begin

Co-chair of memorial foundation says urgency of need to start work has increased given number of survivors dying

Lord Pickles, co-chair of the body overseeing a new 100m UK Holocaust memorial, said he is desperate" to finally start building, given the dwindling number of survivors.

On Wednesday, the prime minister said he would legislate to work around a court ruling preventing the memorial and learning centre being erected on the Grade II listed Victoria Tower Gardens beside the Houses of Parliament. The scheme has been in development since 2014 but has been mired in controversy.