Covid-19: Museums, Galleries and Historic Buildings

Lord Duncan of Springbank Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Duncan of Springbank (Con)]

My Lords, this is a worthy debate. I want to speak very briefly about dinosaurs. A number of noble Lords will be aware that Crystal Palace park is awash with dinosaurs created in the 1850s as part of the Great Exhibition. They are the earliest reconstructions of dinosaurs and they are now sadly showing their age. They are losing their teeth, their tails and their toes. Restoration would cost around £800,000, which is a very small amount to restore what are, indeed, world-beating dinosaurs. Noble Lords have so far spoken about the importance of the removal of VAT: I think that would be a very useful thing to commit to right now. I would be very grateful if the Minister would give some thought to whether the Government could offer support to the restoration of these dinosaurs. They are not only the oldest replica dinosaurs in the world but are, indeed, the only example of that era and they deserve serious protection.