Robert Jenrick ‘subject to death threats’ over Holocaust memorial

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© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Mark Thomas/REX/Shutterstock

A cabinet minister has said his family has received death threats and abuse over his involvement in a proposal for a national Holocaust memorial at Westminster.

An inquiry into the plan, which opens today, will hear that the site next to the Houses of Parliament would become a target for terrorists.

Following a high court ruling on Monday that Robert Jenrick had acted properly in regard to the planning application, the minister for communities said “baseless and disgraceful” allegations had been made over his actions.

“The behaviour of some of the opponents to the memorial has been shocking and disgraceful. The fact that I have been subjected to these smears, and my family to antisemitic abuse and death threats only shows the paramount importance of the memorial,” he told the Jewish Chronicle.

The paper reported the minister had been given protection from counter-terrorism police after threats to burn down his home.

A legal challenge brought against Jenrick by the London Historic Parks and Gardens Trust argued there was a conflict of interest in the government’s handling of the planning application for the memorial in Victoria Park Gardens next to Parliament.

Jenrick – who is married to the daughter of a Holocaust survivors and whose children are being brought up as Jewish – recused himself from any decisions relating to the memorial after publicly backing the plans.

Lawyers for Jenrick and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government argued at the high court that decisions had been taken objectively.

Following the ruling, Jenrick wrote on Twitter: “The allegations made against MHCLG, myself and the project team by those who seek to stop the memorial were baseless and disgraceful.

“That I was subject to antisemitic smears for supporting it only confirms its paramount importance … This critical project is a national symbol of our determination to #neverforget.”

An inquiry into the planning application opens on Tuesday after the application was “called in” by Esther McVey, the then housing minister, last November. Following the inquiry, the final decision over the application will be taken by her successor, Christopher Pincher.

The Holocaust memorial proposal has been controversial since it was proposed by David Cameron five years ago. It has been backed by Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer, along with the former prime ministers Theresa May, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and John Major, more than 170 MPs and peers, and many faith leaders.

© Photograph: Mark Thomas/REX/Shutterstock Robert Jenrick said his family had received antisemitic abuse over the planning application.

Opposition has come from some senior Jewish figures who have challenged the location of the memorial, and the Royal Parks, which said it would have a “significant harmful impact” on the area. Some local residents have expressed concerns the memorial will eat up much-valued green space.

In a written submission to the inquiry, Lord Carlile, a former independent reviewer of terror laws, has warned that a Holocaust memorial next to Parliament would create a target for terrorists.

Carlile said: “From my extensive experience of observing, analysing and discussing terrorism issues with frontline practitioners, I have absolutely no doubt that the proposed site raises a clear – indeed self-evident – terrorism risk.

“I give this warning with regret, but with total conviction. This would be a threat to the public, and also a potential threat to parliament.”

Carlile told the BBC he had a strong interest in the issue. “Many of my close relatives were exterminated in the Holocaust. My half-sister’s mother was murdered in Auschwitz. I am absolutely determined that this should be remembered properly. I just feel that this isn’t the right place for it,” he said.

“This site would also be, potentially, a target for rightwing extremists. It seems to be foolish for these two iconic places to be on the same broad site.”

Related: Gold Medal winner David Adjaye deserves a better brief for the Holocaust memorial | Rowan Moore

More than 40 Holocaust academics have raised concerns that the centre would portray Britain as “the ultimate saviour of the Jews”.

In a joint letter to the inquiry, they said: “Situating the UK Holocaust memorial next to the Houses of Parliament is likely to create a celebratory narrative of the British government’s responses to the Jewish catastrophe during the Nazi era and beyond.”

The project features 23 large bronze fin structures and an underground learning centre.