conclusion that the sites hitherto identified were not adequately meeting the HMC report recommendation requirements, and that further alternatives were necessary. 15.155 What is clear though is how closely the VTG site meets the core expectations of the recommendation… by virtue of this aesthetic and semiotic boldness combined with its location, the proposal would make a clear and unequivocal statement about the degree of importance we as a nation place on preserving the memory of the Holocaust. A statement moreover that would readily serve as a focal point for its national commemoration. Expressing these attributes, it would indeed stand as an affirmation of the universal human values, and so those also, unashamedly, of British society. 15.156 Such questions of location do however beg the wider questions as to why we raise such memoria, and why we put them where we do. The diverse monumental denizens of Whitehall, Parliament Square, and VTG itself, are all witness to significant national and international events, people or causes. All too, seem held in space by the gravitational mass of the Palace of Westminster, for so long the very epicentre of national and global power. Even to one familiar with these places, the passing observer is compelled to ask of each memorial, “why are you here?” We also know that there are great sensitivities around the relocation of these memoria, such as those to the Pankhursts and to Buxton. … 15.158… If, as the clear greater majority of those offering a view at the Inquiry and more widely, believe that the commemoration of the Holocaust (and learning of its horrors and contemporary legacy) is profoundly significant, then it follows that the UKHMLC should be located in a place of primary national and indeed international importance. So, locating the combined structure in central London, the nation’s capital, adjacent to the Palace of Westminster, the very epicentre of national law-making, would have an inescapable resonance. It should be recalled that this semiotic appeal was not lost on the HMC, who identified one of the merits of the Millbank site as being its relative proximity to the Houses of Parliament. It should also be recalled that the HMC also concluded that the IWM was also very highly regarded, being within easy reach of Westminster. Moreover, if one accepts the primacy of location in recognising the importance of the Holocaust, it follows that the selection of a less significant 49