Title
Holocaust (Stolen Art) Restitution Bill
10:00 am
Edward Vaizey (Shadow Minister, Culture, Media & Sport; Wantage, Conservative)
I thought that I was getting up. After that intervention, I shall try, as one of our great actresses said, to gather my thoughts.
This is a small but important Bill which Conservative Members welcome. It has not, despite the broad consensus in this Committee, had the easiest of passages. In fact, this is an opportunity for me to pay tribute to the work of Anne Webber and all those who have campaigned for such a Bill. Although the Bill’s objectives are something that every right-thinking individual would welcome, there was also, potentially, an important principle at stake, which was the inviolability of our national collections. It was therefore extremely important, and somewhat time-consuming, to engage with those looking after our national collections, the directors of our national museums, to ensure that they were comfortable that this was not somehow the thin end of the wedge. I know that the hon. Member for Hendon may be pushing some more wedges into our national collections with another private Member’s Bill not unrelated to friezes from the east of Europe. Nevertheless, it is very welcome that we have arrived at this point today.
I know that national museums have worked very closely with the Government, the hon. Gentleman, Anne Webber and others to ensure that this Bill will be passed. The Bill is very clear in its aims. It gives all those who feel that they have a justified claim to an object looted by the Nazis which is in a national collection the opportunity to make that claim. It provides a very sensible mechanism in which an advisory committee can make a recommendation, the Secretary of State can approve it and the trustees may have the final decision before that object is released, thereby keeping in place the principle that the trustees are the guardian of the collection.
I also welcome the fact that there is a sunset clause. As other hon. Members have pointed out, sunset clauses are, in principle, a very good thing to include in any legislation. Conservative Members wholeheartedly welcome the Bill.