Captain Sir Tom Moore with daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore (Picture: PA)
Captain Sir Tom Moore’s daughter has said the controversial luxury pool and spa complex built on the grounds of the family’s home was intended to be ‘part of his legacy’.
Hannah Ingram-Moore told TalkTV her family has received death threats amid the huge public backlash to reports it was built using money donated to the charity in his name.
In an interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored, said it was a mistake to lodge the planning application under the Captain Tom Foundation, saying the building was merely meant to bear his name.
Ms Ingram-Moore denied seeking to give themselves ‘a little treat’, claiming the paperwork was filed after her father’s death ‘because we wanted it as part of that legacy, and because it was a nice thing to do’.
Morgan suggested it ‘looks like you are giving yourselves, as a family, a nice little treat, but you are using the Captain Tom Foundation umbrella to justify it’.
She replied: ‘Yes, and I think everyone can look in hindsight, and our original application, the name was never intended to be the Captain Tom Foundation, it was supposed to be the Captain Tom building.
‘It got lost in translation and we take responsibility for that, completely.’
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Turning to Ms Ingram-Moore’s husband Colin, Morgan went on: ‘I think you played into your critics’ hands, right Colin.
‘I just think that when I came in, I thought I wonder how big that is, you know what, it’s pretty nice, it’s something most people can’t afford, it’s an expensive luxurious thing, it has really nothing to do with Captain Tom or his legacy or anything actually, it’s purely just a nice thing for you to have as a family.
‘But you were applying as the Captain Tom Foundation to do it, that’s what angers, certainly a statement from the Foundation said they were not happy about that, they weren’t involved, but secondly, just public opinion.’
Mr Ingram-Moore replied: ‘We accept that. We were caught up with trying to get the building to do what we wanted it to do.
‘We should have, we wanted to leave the name of Captain Tom here as a legacy, and we should have done it in a different way, without any doubt, and we’ve suffered as a result.’
Their son Benji added: ‘Yes, what I hope people understand as well, is we did not use charity money for this.
‘Hindsight, we shouldn’t have called it the Captain Tom Foundation building, it slipped through the net and that is a responsibility that we take, but never once did we use money from the Foundation, and I hope people can understand that part of it.’
Central Bedfordshire Council said a retrospective planning application had been refused and an enforcement notice issued requiring the demolition of the ‘now-unauthorised building’ (Picture: PA)
The couple applied in 2021 for permission to build a Captain Tom Foundation Building in the grounds of their home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.
The L-shaped building was given the green light, and in a design and access and heritage statement it was described as to be used partly ‘in connection with The Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives’.
A subsequent retrospective application in 2022, for a larger C-shaped building containing a spa pool, was refused by the planning authority.
Central Bedfordshire Council said in July that an enforcement notice requiring the demolition of the ‘now-unauthorised building’ was issued and was subject to an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.
Asked whether it might be ‘good optics’ to simply get rid of the spa building altogether, Ms Ingram-Moore insisted it had been paid for with ‘all personal money’ and ‘not one penny’ from anywhere else.
Pressed again on whether they should ditch it, she said: ‘Because when we go to appeal, it’s keep it or tear it all down, there isn’t a middle… if we are allowed to keep it, we will talk about what we may be able to do…’
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Morgan went on: ‘When I first walk in, the first thing I see is a luxurious spa pool, that’s got nothing to do with Captain Tom, at all, and yet you used the Captain Tom Foundation name to get it.
‘That’s why I’m surprised that given I’ve asked this a few times now, you don’t just say, “Actually we get it, that’s going to go, regardless of whatever the council says”.
‘So I’ll give you one last chance, then we’ll move on, but I think it’s important.’
Ms Ingram-Moore replied: ‘I think though that I can’t possibly answer that before we as a family would sit down and discuss it.’
Sir Tom raised £38.9 million for the NHS, including gift aid, by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday at the height of the first national Covid-19 lockdown in April 2020.
He was knighted by the late Queen during a unique open-air ceremony at Windsor Castle in summer 2020. He died in February 2021.
Hannah Ingram-Moore denied using the name of her father’s charity to give herself ‘a nice little treat’.