Dowding Memorial (Hansard, 26 November 1987)

§ Lord Boyd-Carpenter
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

§ The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Belstead)
My Lords, the Government have agreed that a statue of the late Lord Dowding should be erected in London and are doing all they can to ensure that a suitable site is found. After discussions with the Royal Fine Art Commission a site beside St. Clement Dane's Church is being investigated. The Church authorities decided this week that a formal application may be made for a Faculty to use the site. The next step will then be for the organisers to make a formal application to Westminster City Council for planning approval.

§ Lord Boyd-Carpenter
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that satisfactory reply and for indicating, at long last, that proper tribute is being paid to a great man who, in 1940, commanded the force that stood between us and total defeat. Perhaps my noble friend can clear up a point which arose on a previous occasion. Will the Government undertake responsibility for the maintenance of the statue or will that depend on the generous offer made on that occasion by the noble Lord, Lord Parry?

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, successive governments have required that appropriate financial arrangements need to be made so that a statue may be properly maintained. The Battle of Britain Fighter Association is aware of the necessity of covering the capital costs of maintenance. I trust that the generous offer made by the noble Lord, Lord Parry, may not be called upon.

The Lord Bishop of Rochester
My Lords, is the Minister aware that when I recently had the honour of dedicating a memorial to Lord Dowding in a public park in Tunbridge Wells, strong feelings were expressed by some of those who had served with him in the Royal Air Force that appropriate national recognition of his service was long overdue?

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, on 10th September I wrote to Sir Christopher Foxley-Norris, chairman of the Battle of Britain Figher Association, to make plain the fact that the Government support the 728 proposal for a statue to Lord Dowding on a suitable site in London. Sir Christopher's reply indicated that this was helpful.

§ Baroness Birk
My Lords, will the Minister accept the fact that we on these Benches welcome the statement? We are delighted that the statue is to be erected. Will the Government make sure that maintenance is sustained? That is extremely important.

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness. The trouble with her supplementary question is that it does not reflect what the Government have stated. I told my noble friend Lord Boyd-Carpenter that the Battle of Britain Fighter Association is aware of the necessity of covering the capital costs of maintenance.

§ Lord Dean of Beswick
My Lords, is the Minister aware that those of us who raised this matter in your Lordships' House on a previous occasion are extremely grateful that the project is now bearing fruit? Will the Minister comment on a recent press report to the effect that Her Majesty the Queen Mother has been invited to officiate at the unveiling ceremony? If that is so, is the Minister aware that the fact that this great man is at last being accorded his place in history will give the greatest of pleasure?

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, I understand that that is the case and the Government have it in mind.

§ Lord Rugby
My Lords, will the Minister agree that this statue, of all statues, should be suitably protected from aerial bombardment by pigeons?

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, it is the siting of the statue and the planning permission followed by a final imprimatur from the Government about which I have given an undertaking. That remains to be resolved. My understanding is that the application for a Faculty must be posted for 10 days from 24th November.
Following that, we await the decision of the Chancellor of the London diocese as regards the permission of the Church authorities; then we need planning permission. The House might be interested to know that Westminster City Council has been helpful to the promoters of the statue in making application to the Church authorities. So relations are good.

§ Lord Moore of Wolvercote
My Lords, while yielding to no one in my admiration for Lord Dowding and Fighter Command, will the Government give consideration to the possibility of a suitable memorial to Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Sir Arthur Harris, whose bombing force led the counter-attack in the darkest days of the war and suffered greater casualties than any other arm of the British armed services?

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, this is an important question, which has a response in the House. Under statute, my right honourable friend is responsible on 729 behalf of the Government for giving agreement to statues within the metropolitan area. I shall draw his attention to the question being asked by the noble Lord, Lord Moore.