A HAMPSHIRE MP has pledged to continue his bid for funding to build a £4m monument to the iconic Spitfire in its birthplace, Southampton.

Southampton Itchen MP Royston Smith made a pitch for funding during a lengthy debate in Westminster yesterday.

Mr Smith believes the money can be provided from fines levied on the banking industry for manipulating the LIBOR (London inter-bank lending rate rate).

Last year, the government announced that nine charities, including a cause supported by the late Jo Cox MP, would receive more than £14 million funding from the fines.

Although he failed to secure funding at yesterday’s debate, Mr Smith said there was “cross-party support” for his calls.

He also pledged to try to secure meetings with treasury officials to “continue to the push for any other mechanism of government funding which is available”.

“I think the debate went really well,” Mr Smith said. “There was cross-party support which is helpful in going forward to persuade the government to help with funding.

“The minister Jane Ellison MP [Financial Secretary to the Treasury] was very supportive and explained how LIBOR had worked in the past and how we might access it.

“She also did not rule out using other funding mechanisms available to the government. All in all, it was a very positive debate.”

Alan Whitehead MP for Southampton Test, Mims Davies MP for Eastleigh and Sir Gerald Howarth MP for Aldershot were in attendance at yesterday’s meeting to hear Mr Smith speak.

Mr Smith is also backed by the National Spitfire Project charity, which was formed in August 2015 to help drive through the plans.

City councillor John Hannides, who chairs the charity’s board of trustees, said: “I think the key message here is we are looking to see if we can encourage the nation to pay tribute to the sacrifice and service that the RAF has given over the last 100 years.

“Next year is the RAF’s centenary year so this is a good time for the nation to show its gratitude for the service and sacrifice the RAF has given.”

The bid to raise the cash for a 40m tall statue of a soaring aircraft on the city’s waterfront started in January 2016.

There are hopes the monument will become a world-famous landmark and one of the centrepieces of Southampton’s £400m Royal Pier development.