Sir Julian Lewis: Does the Minister agree that there is a particular importance of memorials to people who have no known grave but the sea? I believe I am right in saying that the three great Royal Naval memorials at Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth commemorate more than 66,000 Royal Naval personnel who lost their lives in the two world wars. Of course, the one at Tower Hill commemorates about 36,000 merchant seamen and fishing fleet personnel who were similarly lost with no known grave.

[The Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry (Maria Eagle): The right hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point. For families left behind – increasingly as time passes, it seems to me – the lack of a grave or something to mark an individual’s sacrifice is felt more deeply. It is therefore extremely understandable that there have been memorials erected latterly. ... I have some numbers on those who have been commemorated who were lost at sea – the merchant sailors as well as the naval personnel – but the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis) has just mentioned them, so I will not repeat them. The general point is that, apart from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the funding of memorials has overwhelmingly come from public individuals and organisations. That is why they survive – they are part of our communities, they are loved by our communities and they are supported by our communities. ...]