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Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) Bill

My Lords, I am delighted to introduce this Bill. I declare an interest: my entire family, alas, in Latvia and Lithuania—every one of them—was murdered by the Nazis and had all their possessions stolen by their killers. So, sadly, I understand very well the need for survivors and their descendants to be able to reclaim at least some of what they lost and had stolen. Last month, as chairman of the Holocaust Educational Trust, I joined our Government’s delegation at the Holocaust Era Assets Conference in Prague. It underlined the urgent need for restitution of a range of assets for families of the victims of the Holocaust, a process which began with the Nazi Gold Conference here in London in 1997. Our excellent head of delegation in Prague, Susan Hyland, referred in her statement to the conference to the passage of this Bill and to the Government’s support for it, support which is hugely appreciated. Indeed, the need to ensure that this kind of legislation is passed across Europe is the key reason why we were in Prague. The Bill provides a mechanism for the return to their rightful owners of cultural objects held in national collections, objects which were looted during the Nazi period from 1933 to 1945. It gives trustees of national museums the same power to return an object as that held by governing bodies of other public museums, so will correct an anomaly in relation to national collections, which are currently prevented by law from deaccessioning. I both commend and am grateful to my friend Andrew Dismore, Member of Parliament, for his hard work in introducing this Private Member’s Bill in the House of Commons and getting it through. He has campaigned on this issue for many years; indeed, we worked with others back in 2000 to set up the Spoliation Advisory Panel. I remember arguing the case for settling the very first claim, for a painting now in the possession of the Tate Gallery, "A View of Hampton Court Palace" by Jan Griffier the Elder. I helped those who set the panel’s terms of reference and remain entirely supportive of its continuingly important work. As I have said, the Government’s support for the Bill is welcome and much appreciated. I especially thank the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Barbara Follett, and her officials for their commitment to the legislation. I know that the Government have long made clear their agreement in principle to legislate and that they had hoped to change the law with a heritage protection Bill, which unfortunately was not in the Queen’s Speech. I thank also the Under-Secretary of State’s predecessor, Margaret Hodge, for her efforts when we met and corresponded about this, and I thank all our political parties for their support for the legislation. Anne Webber, from the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, and Jon Benjamin, from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, deserve special praise for lending their considerable expertise, and for working so hard over so many years to help us to pass the Bill. Two conditions must be satisfied for there to be deaccession. First, the spoliation panel must recommend that the object be returned and, secondly, the Secretary of State, and Scottish Ministers in the case of Scottish museums, must approve the recommendations. In the event that these conditions are met, the national museums’ trustees then have a discretionary power whether to return the object. So it is clear that there must be consensus for there to be restitution; the Bill cannot operate where there is any disagreement. The Bill applies only to a finite list of institutions, outlined in Clause 1, and is applicable only to the Nazi era. As Andrew Dismore said: ""It is not a Trojan horse for any other art works or cultural items".—[Official Report, Commons, 26/6/09; col. 1043.]" Clause 4 ensures that the legislation ceases to have effect after 10 years, to give sufficient time for claimants to come forward while giving the necessary long-term certainty to our national collections. It is estimated that there may be anything up to 20 looted items in our museums. It is clear that the law as it stands is leading to unjust and unfair outcomes, and two cases, both heard by the spoliation panel in 2008, demonstrate why. A claim was made for two pieces of porcelain from a Viennese collection, one in the Fitzwilliam Museum and the other in the British Museum. The former was restituted, but the panel believed that it could not recommend restitution of the second piece, because it was said that there was no sign that the Government were going to change the law. It therefore awarded—happily—an ex gratia payment. This vital and, I hope and believe, uncontroversial Bill prevents similar inconsistencies and allows at least some survivors and their families finally to recover what they have lost. I was delighted that the Bill received all-party support in the House of Commons; I hope that it will receive the same united support in this House. It provides a clear, narrowly defined and consensus-oriented proposition, with appropriate safeguards, for deaccession from national collections. I wholeheartedly commend it to the House. I beg to move.