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Baroness Trumpington: And the only one, my Lords.
Lord Astor of Hever: My Lords, the noble Baroness also helped in the vital work of breaking German codes at Bletchley Park. There were also those who helped to organise resistance groups and passed valuable information back to this country. Thousands more worked in factories, were nurses, ARP wardens, WVS volunteers and ambulance drivers, and my noble friend Lady Park mentioned the FANYs.
We should not forget the contribution made by housewives, as the noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathley said. They stayed at home to care for families while everyone else was away. Many, sadly, became widows. Here I pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Strange, for the wonderful work she does as president of the War Widows Association.
The noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathley, is right to point out the sterling work carried out by the brave women of the occupied Channel Islands and the hardships they endured. I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Thomas, that we should try to educate this generation as to what happened in the Second World War.
On a personal level, I am right behind the noble Baroness, Lady Boothroyd. I know that my own late mother, who was proud of her war service with the Red Cross in the east end during the worst of the Blitz, would certainly have approved.
The noble Baroness, Lady Boothroyd, pointed out that the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square is currently the charity's preferred location. If that is not possible, there is a site outside the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall where the statue, in miniature, of Sir Walter Raleigh once stood. I seem to remember that both my noble friend Lady Trumpington and the noble Baroness, Lady Boothroyd, quite rightly had something to do with the removal of that statue. I understand that there is an oil tank underneath that site, but I would hope that with modern engineering technology a way might be found to solve that problem inexpensively, even for a bronze and granite statue.
As a young woman, the Queen was active in the war effort. I look forward to the day when she unveils a memorial, with, I hope, thousands of women veterans marching past. We on these Benches wish this campaign every success and hope that this debate will clear the way for some speedy progress.
8.29 p.m.
The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Blackstone): My Lords, I join noble Lords in thanking the noble Baroness, Lady Boothroyd of Sandwell, for initiating this debate on an important and worthwhile project. Like the noble Baroness, Lady Trumpington, I do wonder where all our male colleagues are. But it is excellent to see that there are at least some good, strong women making the case for this project.
I know that, as patron of the Memorial to the Women of World War II charity, the noble Baroness, Lady Boothroyd, has worked tirelessly, along with John Grogan MP and Hugh Bayley MP to try to get a memorial erected in Whitehall. As always, she has spoken passionately and eloquently about it today.
There is a great deal of support in both Houses for a memorial commemorating the contribution of women during the Second World War. That has been clearly demonstrated by the support for three Early Day Motions on this subject, one of which received over 280 signatures, and the Adjournment debate on the memorial in October 1999 secured by John Grogan.
We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to these women for their contribution to the winning of the war. As has been pointed out, we won the war partly because everyone worked hard and sacrificed an enormous amount to make sure that that happened. This is fully recognised by the Government and we welcome the proposal to have a lasting memorial to the
thousands of women who served in the armed services both at home and overseas and to those women who contributed to the war effort at home, in the Women's Land Army, in the fire brigades, in the hospitals and in the factories.I strongly agree with my noble friend Lady Pitkeathley and the noble Lord, Lord Astor of Hever, in relation the tremendous contribution made by housewives, who had to make do on very little—often on practically nothing—often bringing up their children alone, without the support of their husbands or of other male members of their families who were serving in the Armed Forces away from home, often many thousands of miles away.
Those speakers who are old enough to have worked throughout the war told us a little about their own experiences, which I found fascinating. I found the comments of the noble Baronesses, Lady Sharples and Lady Trumpington, extraordinarily interesting. I thought that the noble Baroness, Lady Sharples, was far too modest about her own contribution, which was obviously of enormous importance.
Some of us are not old enough to have worked during the war. I am possibly the youngest Member to contribute to the debate, and I am about to be 60—no, the noble Lord, Lord Astor of Hever, is considerably younger. I was born in 1942. Many of us have spoken about the contributions of our mothers. My mother, having worked as an actress and model in Paris, came home and joined the auxiliary fire service as a driver. Indeed, she met my father early in the war, who was a commander in the London Fire Brigade. So I should not have existed were it not for the fact that women played such an important part in the civilian defence of this country.
I was interested also in what the noble Baroness, Lady Strange, had to say about the contribution of children. I do not know whether she still has any of the objects that she spent so much time knitting. If so, perhaps she might make a small presentation to the Imperial War Museum. The Imperial War Museum of the North is being opened by the Duke of Edinburgh tomorrow. I am sure that the museum might be interested to receive anything that the noble Baroness still has.
A memorial would be a fitting recognition and a reminder to future generations of the contribution of women during the war, and it might also make people reflect on how women's role in society was changed forever by their efforts. That is an important point and must not be forgotten. There is absolutely no doubt that women of today owe an enormous amount to those women who went out and worked in all kinds of tough and difficult conditions during the war. This needs to be fully recognised.
I strongly agree with the remark of the noble Baroness, Lady Thomas, that young people today need to understand the role of women in the Second World War—not only those in uniform but those in all the other areas referred to, including the Civil Service and local government, where many did immensely important jobs. As the noble Lord, Lord Astor of
Hever, said, this was a time of huge social change. One of the most important social changes that took place was a much greater acceptance of the role that women could play outside the home.The charity must be congratulated on raising more than £140,000 towards the cost of the project, which it is to use as match-funding in a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund. That is an impressive figure considering that many of the members of the charity are pensioners.
This has been a long road for the Memorial charity from its first bid in 1997 to place the statue on the vacant plinth in Trafalgar Square, to consideration of the Raleigh Green site, and now to the site in Whitehall for which it is seeking planning approval. I should say to the noble Lord, Lord Astor of Hever, that I believe that that is now the preferred site for the memorial. I congratulate members of the charity on their perseverance in the face of a number of obstacles to find a site in Whitehall. I wish the charity well in its current application to Westminster City Council for planning permission. It is vital that planning permission is provided before there can be any agreement about the application that it wishes to make to the Heritage Lottery Fund. Whether any memorial that is eventually built should commemorate those who fought in the First World War, as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mayhew, and others have suggested, is entirely up to the charity.
I must explain briefly my department's role in respect of any proposed new memorials. It is a limited one. Under the Public Statues (Metropolis) Act 1854, which was mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Boothroyd, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport must give formal approval for any new statue in the Metropolitan Police District of London. Her approval is given on the basis of planning permission being granted by the local planning authority. Because of this role, it is not possible for Ministers to become involved in memorial projects.
The noble Baroness asked also about the issuing of a special grant by government. She will not be altogether surprised to hear that, unfortunately, my department has no budget for funding memorials. Memorials have always been funded by fund-raising and by public donations rather than by direct funding from the taxpayer. I am sure that the noble Baroness will find that disappointing, but I am afraid that it is the position.
The noble Baroness asked who has responsibility as regards the vacant plinth in Trafalgar Square. It is indeed the Mayor who has the responsibility under the provisions of the Greater London Authority Act 1999.
This has been an extremely interesting debate on a subject that I think is very close to the hearts of many people. Greater, permanent and more visible recognition of the role of women during World War II is in my view long overdue. The Government look
forward to the completion of a fitting memorial and wish the Memorial to the Women of World War II charity every success in achieving this very soon.
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