The British Museum shouldn’t make foreigners pay

The interim director of the British Museum, Mark Jones, has broached the idea that our national museums should charge foreign visitors for entry, though not British visitors. On the surface it may seem an attractive idea. Our national museums are major attractions – not just in London but in Edinburgh and elsewhere, drawing in millions of people from across the world. The temptation to follow the almost universal practice of charging for entry is understandable. Museums can always do with more money, even if it is sometimes spent badly on worthless ‘decolonisation’ projects promoted by the likes of the Museums Association. The Metropolitan Museum in New York charges $30, though you can opt to give less, so long as it is something. You can even (if you dare) pay just one cent. But that is not actually a national museum; it is a private institution that depends on its benefactors and on its impressive ability to generate income.