HL Deb 28 April 1970 vol 309 cc1032-4WA
LORD AMULREE

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What became of the monument to Lenin which was put up in Holford Square early in the war.

LORD KENNET

This monument has never been the responsibility of Her Majesty's Government, but I am told that its history is as follows. The monument consisted of a bust of Lenin, with a plaque and design of broken chains. It was erected privately in Holford Square, Finsbury, in 1942 and was badly mutilated by vandals during the years that it stood there. In about 1951, when the war-damaged Holford Square was rebuilt, the Finsbury Borough Council decided to take the monument into safe keeping, but they found it to be in such poor condition that restoration was impossible. A copy of the bust was, therefore, made and is stored in Islington Town Hall where it has remained ever since. This copy can, 1 under- stand, be viewed privately on application to the Council of the London Borough of Islington.

House adjourned at twelve minutes before eight o'clock.