Over 170 Peers and MPs have signed a letter in support of the proposal to build a Holocaust memorial outside Parliament, saying it will “stand as a testimony” to fighting hatred.

Politicians – including Conservatives Dominic Raab, Nicky Morgan and Robert Halfon, as well as Labour’s Emily Thornberry, Yvette Cooper, Barry Gardiner and Lord Dubs,  wrote to Westminster Council Planning Committee backing the National Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, which is to be built in Victoria Tower Gardens, Westminster.

Their support comes after the Royal Parks, which looks after the gardens, criticised the planning application for the £100m project, which is being considered by Westminster Council

Written by the co-chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Holocaust Memorial, MPs Ian Austin and Bob Blackman, the letter urges the council’s planning committee to back the application.

The letter says the memorial is necessary, “as the Holocaust moves from living memory into history” and as antisemitism rises in society, adding “education and remembrance is ever more crucial.”

Adding they can “think of no better location” for the project, which is being led by the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation, the politicians, which include members of the new Independent Group such as Luciana Berger and Mike Gapes, say it will allow people to “examine the Holocaust through British eyes and will be a permanent reminder of where hate can lead if left unchecked”.

The letter also urges the council to back the project because the learning centre will be in “an accessible location to people of all ages, and complimenting existing educational activity across the country”.

“Despite commitments to ‘Never Again’, we have witnessed genocide since the Holocaust, making the aim of education and awareness of the consequences of hate so important.”