Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Lewer Excerpts

Wednesday 19th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I want to repeat that I understand the feelings that the hon. Gentleman has relayed to me, as I said last week. I sympathise very deeply with the feelings and I understand why people feel as they do. I thank people very much for everything that they have done. I recognise the enormous sacrifice that people have made. I apologise for the misjudgments that may have been made in No. 10 by me and anybody else, but please can I ask him to wait for the inquiry to conclude?

[Andrew Lewer (Northampton South) (Con)]

Q11. I recently attended a debate held by my hon. Friend the Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Andrew Bowie) seeking a central London memorial for the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit. In it, I referenced my constituent, the Mosquito pilot Mr George Pritchard, who is 98 next week and is one of the last surviving members of the unit. Will the Prime Minister join my hon. Friend, me and Mr Pritchard in backing that fitting and needed memorial?

[The Prime Minister]

I will certainly do what I can to support it, although of course, as my hon. Friend knows, such memorials are a matter for local authorities. What the House and the Government can certainly do is ensure that memorials are not desecrated, as they have been across the country, and that we support legislation that penalises those who indulge in such desecration.