Tom Blenkinsop MP today (12 January 2012) tabled a written Parliamentary question asking Defence ministers to create a British War Memorial fund.

Tom said: “It is vital that we remember those who gave up their lives to fight for freedom and for our country. War memorials are a good way for us to honour those who sacrificed themselves for us, so it is imperative that they are maintained.

I know local councils clean war memorials every year, but doing so is a costly process, especially when they are very elaborate like at Saltburn, and when Teesside local authorities are facing such financial hardship.

I have listened to local Royal British Legion members’ concerns, alongside those of local councillors, and asked the Secretary of State for Defence to provide a dedicated fund for the maintenance of cenotaphs.

The Government has a duty to help Britons remember those who sadly lost their lives in wars, and I hope that they will commit the necessary funding for the establishment of such a fund.”