Covid-19: Museums, Galleries and Historic Buildings

Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill (Lab)]

My Lords, lockdown has taught us what is important in life and how to treasure what makes it worthwhile. Many find solace in culture, the arts, literature, music, drama and sport, but we are all missing sharing these events in our communities, where people can come together to enjoy. Today, we meet here online, thanks to the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, and I hope we can spend our leisure time enjoying the wonderful events being streamed by so many arts organisations during lockdown. But think of those millions who cannot access the internet and must wait for their local museums, galleries and places of historic interest to reopen, so many of which are funded by local councils, spending more than £1 billion on sustaining these discretionary services. The Local Government Association is calling for the essential emergency schemes to continue past the immediate crisis so that their communities can once again enjoy what makes life worth living.