Boris Johnson hints he will name a new hospital after Captain Sir Tom Moore in honour of the fundraiser who stole a nation’s heart

• Downing Street considering plans to name hospital after Captain Sir Tom Moore 
•  It came as the grandfather’s family welcomed the Mail’s rallying call for a statue
• Captain Tom touched the nation’s hearts and raised £33million for NHS charities 

Captain Sir Tom Moore could have an NHS hospital named after him, it emerged yesterday – as a sculptor unveiled a statue of the national hero.

Downing Street is understood to be considering plans to name one of Boris Johnson’s 40 new hospitals after the campaigning war veteran.

It came as the grandfather’s family welcomed the Mail’s rallying call for a statue or memorial to mark his incredible life. Boris Johnson has already backed the initiative to unveil a lasting tribute to the 100-year-old who died on Tuesday.

Captain Sir Tom Moore could have an NHS hospital named after him, it emerged yesterday – as a sculptor unveiled a statue of the national hero

Captain Tom touched the nation’s hearts and raised £33million for NHS charities by doing laps of his garden during the first lockdown. Now it has emerged that his fundraising efforts could be marked by a hospital being named after him.

The Prime Minister made a manifesto pledge during the 2019 election to build 40 NHS hospitals across the country in the next decade. Although no decision has been made on which could bear Captain Tom’s name, new hospital buildings will be added to the Leeds General Infirmary site which is near to his home town of Keighley.

Last night a No 10 source said: ‘Captain Sir Tom Moore raised an extraordinary sum of money for those working in our NHS, and naming a hospital after him will be a fitting tribute to those efforts.’

The Government will consult Captain Tom’s family, the NHS, NHS Charities Together for which he raised the money, and the public if the idea is approved.

It also emerged yesterday that a Leeds-based designer has already created a life-size bronze statue of the hero which he plans to donate to his family. Tony Clark commissioned the sculpture which was made in Indonesia and shipped to Britain last year.

He hopes to raise £60,000 to cover his costs and will then donate 10 per cent and any additional funds to the Captain Tom Foundation. The statue will then be given to the family to erect in a location they deem to be most fitting, he said.

The mayor of Keighley yesterday offered a location for a statue beside the town’s war memorial, whose cenotaph Captain Tom’s grandfather helped to build.

Captain Tom touched the nation’s hearts and raised £33million for NHS charities by doing laps of his garden during the first lockdown

It came after his family gave their backing to this newspaper’s rallying cry for a lasting tribute to the old soldier. His grandson Tom Teixeira, 22, said it would be ‘really nice’ to have a memorial where people could pay their respects.

He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘I don’t think we were expecting anything like that but it’s really nice to think that people would like to do that for our grandfather.’ He added: ‘I can see it happening and it would be very nice to have a memorial like that where we can all go visit and pay our respects to him.’

Mr Teixeira also urged the nation to adopt his grandfather’s slogan ‘tomorrow will be a good day’.

Of the worldwide acclaim received by his grandfather, he said: ‘It’s nice to be able to talk about it and give a sense of what a family man he was, not just a war hero and a fundraising machine but as an actual family man.’

It comes as the woke warrior cleric who derided the ‘cult’ of Captain Tom is facing an inquiry into his social media attacks.

The Reverend Jarel Robinson-Brown may face sanctions if he is found to have broken Church of England rules after he tweeted that commemorating the hero was ‘a cult of white British nationalism’. He has since deleted the tweet and apologised.

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