OPINION - Free museums, without borders, is Britain at its best — a policy to make us all proud

London’s free national museums and galleries are, to my mind, one of the great wonders of the world.

With their permanent collections free to everyone — whatever their means or wherever they come from — they represent a monumental contribution to civilisation.

How lucky we are to be able to enjoy some of the world’s greatest treasures without having to navigate border control.

Universal free admission speaks to our country’s values at their best — open, generous, diverse, welcoming and confident.

And it is not just an enlightened policy; it is the fundamental principle that our national museums are built on, as pillars of education, cultural exchange and inspiration for people everywhere — not just visitor attractions.

In this context, comparisons with the Louvre which charges hefty admission prices on a discriminatory basis — and therefore, why shouldn’t we?

— miss the mark.

Do we really want to emulate a place where 80 per cent of visitors go just to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa, and where the experience for residents and tourists alike is mired in queues and queues.

Museums are somewhere to be safe, to study, to be inspired, to feel part of something bigger and better
This is why an ad hoc proposal made by Baroness Hodge in her recent review of Arts Council England — that our national museums and galleries should consider charging foreigners — is so surprising.

And even Hodge kicked this proposal into the long grass, by acknowledging that it couldn’t be achieved until Brits carry identity cards .

So why has Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy seized upon the idea and asked all our national museums and galleries to explore it over the coming months?

Perhaps Hodge and Nandy see this as a way of clawing back government grant-in-aid and redistributing it to culture around the country.

But they know better than us that the fiscal plumbing doesn’t work like that.

Once funds flow back into Treasury coffers, there’s likely to be less money for culture all round.

You might think that the museums themselves are tempted by the thought of an influx of tourist dollar and yuan , with many suffering from economic pressures and operational deficits.

But we know at least 12 out of our 15 national museums and galleries think this is a bad idea, even considering their different business models.

For most it doesn’t work philosophically, operationally, fiscally, even commercially.

Several museums have already modelled the finances: a few would benefit, but most would not make enough to offset the potential loss in grant-in-aid; and the decline in visitors would be sharp.

Buildings would need remodelling, not to mention the ethical problems of charging Nigerians to see the Benin Bronzes or Holocaust survivors to enter the Imperial War Museum.

There would be an immediate impact on commercial revenues, too, from special exhibitions, shops and cafés, while London’s paid attractions would certainly suffer collateral damage.

Many philanthropic and corporate contracts also specify the aspect of “free”.

And then, of course, it makes no sense politically.

Why would a Labour government seek to undermine a Labour policy that has proved to be one of the most successful and enduring cultural policies of all.

On a personal note, I am proud to have been part of the 1997-2001 campaign that led to universal free admission being reintroduced.

I drafted the VAT policy, in partnership with the Charity Tax Reform Group, which led to all charging museums dropping their entry fees.

Since then, my think tank The Cultural Policy Unit has published reports on “The Value of Free for All” and an alternative proposal for raising money for cultural infrastructure in this country — through a hotel levy.

Back in 2000, a minimal museum charge of £1 was mooted, but it was found that the British public is as highly sensitive to perceived barriers as to actual barriers.

Do we really want to put everyone off by investing in barriers, identity checks and queues at the door.

I have been a huge beneficiary of free admission in London.

As a child, obsessed with Arthurian legends, I spent hours drawing knights in armour in the fabulous European armoury rooms at The Wallace Collection.

Much later, working at the Art Fund, then based in South Kensington, I would sprint across Cromwell Road to sit under the breathtaking full-size cast of Michelangelo’s David in the V&A.

The first dawn after lockdown, I drove to Trafalgar Square to make an early morning visit to my favourite Early Renaissance paintings in the National Gallery , which I had missed nearly as much as my friends.

My children too developed their love of art as well as dinosaurs — and an ease with museum culture — from just dipping in now and then.

I dread to think what would have happened if we’d been forced to stay a few hours to get our money’s worth.

These free museums, too, are part of a diminishing public realm; somewhere to be, to meet, to be safe, to study, to be inspired, to feel part of something bigger and better.

Talk of charging foreigners is an unwelcome distraction: instead, we should be thinking hard about how government funding could put all our museums on a more sustainable footing.

What we need is a new museum strategy, not a superficial proposal.

Let’s celebrate the 25th anniversary of the reintroduction of free admission — a British policy to be proud of.

Alison Cole is Director of think tank, The Cultural Policy Unit