Captain Sir Tom Moore will have a statue built in his honour, Matt Hancock has hinted.
The 100-year-old fundraising legend died on Tuesday after battling coronavirus in hospital.
Now, there have been calls for Sir Tom to be honoured with a memorial on the Fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square or to receive a stone in Westminster Abbey.
What did Matt Hancock say about a Captain Sir Tom Moore memorial?
Now, the Health Secretary has said he hopes the government will “find the way permanently to honour his contribution to the NHS”.
Read more: Captain Sir Tom Moore clap: Boris Johnson to lead national tribute for fundraising hero
He told BBC Radio 4: “I hope that at the right time we will find the way permanently to honour his contribution to the NHS.
“He became to symbolise something and something that we all needed to see – that cheerful resilience in the face of difficulty and adversity and the fact that everybody do what they can.”
I hope that at the right time we will find the way permanently to honour his contribution to the NHS.
Meanwhile, Mr Hancock was later asked whether a statue might be built in Sir Tom’s hometown, where he was born or in London.
He told LBC: “Yes, I do think that we should find a way, at the right time, to honour the contribution that he made to the NHS and he was an inspiration to so many people.”
Earlier today, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a national clap in tribute to Sir Tom.
On Wednesday (February 3) at 6pm, the nation’s encouraged to clap for the war veteran following his death.
Mr Johnson said that the clap will also be for “all those health workers for whom he raised money”.
On Wednesday, Carol Vorderman called for Tom to have a stone in Westminster Abbey.
Carol Vorderman calls for statue
Carol said on Good Morning Britain: “I think he deserves a stone in Westminster Abbey because I think he embodies this whole terrible pandemic that we are all living through.
“So many have lost their grandmas and their grandads, their fathers and their mothers, their sisters, their brothers and I think he embodies that and I think we loved him.
“I think we have genuinely fallen in love with Captain Sir Tom.”
In addition, Nick Knowles said he thinks Sir Tom should have a statue.
He told the PA news agency: “We have been wondering what to do with the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square for a long time.
Read more: Captain Sir Tom Moore’s extraordinarily inspiring attitude towards his own death
“Maybe we have finally decided what we should actually do with the fourth plinth. Maybe have a picture of Captain Tom up there.
“We could give him a wave every time we pass through the capital.”
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