Ludford welcomes Holocaust Memorial Day

12.00.00am GMT Fri 26th Jan 2001

Baroness Sarah Ludford, London's Liberal Democrat Euro-MP has welcomed the first national Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27th. Speaking on the eve of her attendance at several Holocaust Day events she said:

"It is important and significant that this event is taking place and I congratulate those who have worked for it, such as the Holocaust Educational Trust. I am glad that we are finally giving Holocaust victims the status they deserve in our memory. And although on Saturday the main focus will be the commemoration of the Holocaust of Jews, Roma and others by the Nazis, the other appalling episodes of 20th century genocide will also be in our thoughts.

"Holocaust Memorial Day is not just about re-pledging ourselves to fight anti-semitism, although the recent worrying rise in incidents throughout Europe shows how necessary that continues to be. It also means reinforcing our commitment to oppose racism, xenophobia and ethnic hatreds generally. I personally believe that this day should be a Europe-wide public holiday, and will continue to take every opportunity to press for this. "

"The best memorial we can build is a Europe that respects diversity and is rooted in the protection of individuality and the right of us all to be different but equal. I am doing my best to build such a Europe and was glad to represent the European Parliament as its anti-racism rapporteur at the European Conference against Racism last October, in preparation for the UN World Conference against Racism this year."