MP Rayner backs campaign to retain 'Covid wall of hearts' memorial

Ashton and Failsworth MP Angela Rayner has joined 227 MPs, Peers and Mayors to write to the Prime Minister urging him to support the campaign for the Covid Memorial Wall in London to become a permanent site.

The letter is spearheaded by Gorton MP Afzal Khan, who lost his mum and both his parents-in-law to coronavirus and has been working with Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice on securing the future of the wall. 

The Covid Memorial Wall, with its endless line of hand-drawn red hearts, has engulfed the wall opposite Parliament since March as bereaved families visited the site to add messages for their loved ones. It has since become a place for people to come together, to reflect on the tragedy of what has happened, and to begin to heal. 

The letter states: "Given the poignancy of this site, the need to give grieving families a place to mourn their loved ones, and your previous commitment to a national Covid memorial, we, the undersigned, support calls to make this wall of hearts a, if not the, permanent memorial to the victims of the pandemic." 

Among the signatories of this letter are over 160 MPs from across the House of Commons, as well as numerous members of the House of Lords. Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, and Florence Eshalomi MP, in whose constituency the wall resides, are also signatories. 

Angela Rayner, Labour’s Deputy Leader, said: “This site of remembrance, developed and created by bereaved families, is a powerful reminder of human cost of the pandemic. Many of my constituents, like thousands across the country, have suffered immense loss during this part year.

"My thoughts are with all those grieving loved ones and with our healthcare staff who have worked tirelessly to save so many lives. I am proud to support this campaign to secure the future of the Covid Memorial Wall and will continue to work with bereaved families to ensure their voices and wishes are heard." 

Matt Fowler, co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, said: “The Memorial Wall has brought many thousands of bereaved families across the country together in ways that we could never have imagined, it’s been utterly overwhelming. We’ll never get back the people we’ve lost, but having a shared space for our collective memory, to share our loss and our love, has meant so much.

"It is unthinkable that the Wall would be taken down, when it is so important, to so many. Seeing this support from MPs across parliament for it to be made permanent has been heartening, and we sincerely hope the Prime Minister will join them."