CFI Vice-Chairman Rt. Hon. Theresa Villiers MP today had the second reading of her bill in Parliament to stop the current law of Holocaust survivors having the right to recover artwork and cultural objects looted in the Nazi era, from expiring.
Her Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) (Amendment) Bill, was introduced last March via an unopposed 10-minute rule motion, and seeks to repeal the sunset clause in the 2009 Act to keep the legislation on the statute book.
In her speech today, the Chipping Barnet MP said: “Whilst sadly there is nothing we can do to make up for the pain of losing family members in the Holocaust, the return of a book or a cultural object, could provide a unique connection to one of those 6 million souls whose lives were cut short by humanities greatest crime”.
Conservative MP Gillian Keegan also emphasised: “There should be no time limit to try and right the wrongs of the past by returning the lost possessions to the families affected by these atrocious crimes”. Other Conservative MPs to contribute included Maggie Throup, Kevin Foster, and Peter Heaton-Jones.
Culture Minister Mims Davies MP responded to state that the Government sees it as “an absolute imperative” to support Ms Villiers’s bill.
