Covid-19: Museums, Galleries and Historic Buildings

Lord Houghton of Richmond Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Houghton of Richmond (CB)]

My Lords, I declare my interests as a trustee of both Historic War Palaces and Royal Armouries. I have two points to raise. The first is to add my name to the many who question the anomaly of the Government permitting, even encouraging, leisure access to public parkland while denying ticketed access to heritage parkland and gardens, such as Hampton Court and Hillsborough Castle, thereby denying an important source of both charity income and public pleasure.

Secondly, I reinforce the point that many of our most prestigious heritage sites—for example, the Tower of London—rest primarily on international tourism for customers and, therefore, revenue. Such tourism is not likely to return to normal levels before 2022. Should the Government therefore not perhaps reconsider the wisdom of dedicating significant sums of money in 2022 to a Brexit festival, and instead spend it on events that are more likely to be significant attractors of inward tourism, such as the Platinum Jubilee, the Commonwealth Games, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and even perhaps the 100th anniversary of the BBC?