UK museums fallen into the hands of a careless generation

Robert Jenrick, MP Conservative Party since 2014 and Minister of State from 2022 to 2023, writes: Our museums have fallen into the hands of a careless generation. Foreign governments seeking restitution of art calculate that our institutions – the UK itself – lacks the self-confidence to fight back.

We must prove them wrong.

“The call for restitution of artefacts is wider than one institution. Instead of conserving their collections, today’s curators appear intent on denuding them. To the liberal progressives running many museums, it is unfashionable and career limiting not to do so.

“Some of the works, like the Elgin [Parthenon] Marbles, would not have survived had they remained in situ. The UK is world class at displaying them, unlike many of those seeking return. It is a slippery slope. One unpicking inevitably opens the floodgates with a precedent now set.”