Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Free entry to museums

Labour blogger Mike Ion has posted this entry on his blog. I cannot link to it because it came in an email to me and didnt include the web address, but you could find it if you tried.

A future Tory government would abolish free entry to Britain's' top museums and galleries and allow institutions to levy a charge for admission. Shadow Culture Secretary Hugo Swire says the Tory party will reverse automatic free admissions introduced by Labour and allow the attractions to restore entry charges. The policy on free admission to the nation's top museums and galleries was introduced by Labour in 1997 and has resulted in places like the Victoria and Albert Museum seeing an increase in visitor numbers of over 130%! A recent poll showed the measure, which costs the Government £40 million a year in subsidy, is the most popular policy introduced by Labour since its election in 1997. To sign the on-line petition opposing such a policy click here.

I do urge you to sign the petition. Didnt I read this week that National Museums in Liverpool have seen a 139% increase in visitors, was that this year? Certainly it was a wonderful fact and someone will doubtless look it up and post it in the comments box.

Anyway, free museums are wonderful, speaking as a regular attender of museums and art galleries, I am totally in favour.

Thank you Labour Party!

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