16.3 |
Military fatalities and the bereaved
deal of
praise for the “obvious effort made by the Royal Family and senior
members
of the
Government and Armed Forces to speak with as many families as
possible”.
427.
Mr Hoon
advised the House of Commons in November 2000:
“I have
given careful consideration to a number of ways in which the
recognition
of members
of the Armed Forces who give their lives in the service of
their
country
might be enhanced. In the light of discussion, I have concluded
that the
most
appropriate would be the erection in central London of a memorial
bearing
the names
of all those killed on duty and by terrorist attack since the end
of
the Second
World War. In accordance with the long established custom for
the
erection of
memorials, I would expect funds to be raised by public
subscription.
Further
consultation will now take place with ex‑Service organisations and
other
428.
Mr Hoon
advised the House of Commons in March 2002 that, following
that
consultation
and research into suitable sites, the Armed Forces Memorial (AFM)
would
be sited at
the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.290
429.
On 30 June
2006, following an assessment by officials that there was a
significant
risk that
fundraising for the Memorial would not reach the total required,
Mr Des Browne,
the Defence
Secretary, directed Mr Jeffrey that the MOD should underwrite
the Memorial
project “in
the sum of £3.3m which represents the balance the AFM Trustees
require to
fully fund
the project”.291
430.
In October
2007, the Armed Forces Memorial was formally dedicated
in
the
presence of Her Majesty The Queen at the National Memorial
Arboretum in
431.
Ministers were
advised in early 2008 that the total cost of the Memorial
was
expected to
be £7.3m.293
The AFM
Trustees had raised £6.7m, including £1.5m from
the sale of
Trafalgar Coins (announced by Mr Gordon Brown, the Chancellor
of the
Exchequer,
in February 2006), £2.417m from the Millennium Commission (agreed
in
November
2006), with the balance from public subscriptions. There was no
realistic
prospect of
significant further public contributions. Trustees had therefore
asked the
MOD to
provide £500,000 to complete the project.
289
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 10
November 2000, column 413W.
290
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 20 March
2002, column 311W.
291
Minute
Jeffrey to Secretary of State [MOD], 29 June 2006, ‘Armed Forces
Memorial’; Minute Secretary
of State
[MOD] to PUS [MOD], 30 June 2006, ‘Armed Forces
Memorial’.
292
Armed
Forces Memorial website.
293
Email MOD
[junior official] to Hardern, 15 May 2008, ‘SPB interest in
AFM’.
149