Clause 42
Greater London Authority Bill
2:00 pm
Michael Gove (Shadow Minister (Housing), Communities and Local Government; Surrey Heath, Conservative)
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. He underlined the difference in focus and history of the Horniman museum from that of the Museum of London. My point was that current funding arrangements for the Horniman museum and the Museum of London are analogous and we accept that, because of the Museum of London’s distinctive status, it is appropriate that the Mayor should exercise the role envisaged by the Bill for him or for her.
I mentioned Cuba and Vietnam not least because those are two countries that I have visited and whose museums I have had the opportunity to look at. What is striking about the governance of both museums is that they tend to portray one particular slant of the history of both countries in an heroic light. Both museums also seek to demonise other nations in a particular way. I admit that they are examples of museums used for ideological purposes, which are at the further end of our considerations, but it is not impossible for this Mayor, or a future Mayor, to apply pressure through his control of the purse strings to the trustees of the museum that might compromise their essential independence. In pressing this amendment, we seek to secure a provision in the Bill, and an assurance from the Minister, so that the trustees will continue to enjoy the independence that they currently enjoy.