24th April 2007, 12:22 PM
To continue the devil's advocate bit, I think the BM is a bit of an anachronism - it certainly isn't the National Museum of Britain as it is largely cluttered up with loot nicked from other people by our Redcoats in days of yore (our Glorious Past, as the Telegraph would say).
They should send the foreign stuff back where it came from, send the Welsh, Scottish and Irish bits back to the respective National Museums (where they belong) and use the residue to set up a National Museum of England. Who needs a museum of the world? - the rest of the planet can have their stuff back, as far as I'm concerned (as long as they pay the postage) - they are certainly not grateful for all the utility bills the British taxpayer has paid over the last few centuries keeping their stuff dry and warm. Time to stop being the Bad Guys.
They should send the foreign stuff back where it came from, send the Welsh, Scottish and Irish bits back to the respective National Museums (where they belong) and use the residue to set up a National Museum of England. Who needs a museum of the world? - the rest of the planet can have their stuff back, as far as I'm concerned (as long as they pay the postage) - they are certainly not grateful for all the utility bills the British taxpayer has paid over the last few centuries keeping their stuff dry and warm. Time to stop being the Bad Guys.