THE HEAD of Wales’ national museum has come under fire from an Assembly Member for an alleged “rant against Britishness” made at a Visit Britain event.
Leaders from across Britain’s tourism sector were invited to an all-day seminar in Westminster to discuss the UK tourism industry post-Brexit, for which guest speakers were asked to give talks on skills, investment and the industrial strategy.
Among the keynote speakers was David Anderson, director general of the National Museum Wales, who said: “I do not wish, ever again, to stand underneath the ‘Britain is GREAT’ banner. The words are a lie. We know it. Many overseas visitors know it. They just make us look stupid. They contributed to the collective delusional madness that is Brexit.
“Our tourism industry – led by Visit England and Visit Britain – must cease to peddle falsehoods of British ‘Greatness’, and frame an alternative, more honest, more positive and inclusive identity for the English part of these islands.”
Suzy Davies AM, Welsh Conservative Shadow Secretary for Culture, called his speech a “clear abandonment of his obligation to party political neutrality” as leader of a charity and publicly funded body.
Ms Davies said: “Speakers were asked to focus their talks on sharing best practice for promoting each body’s offer to tourists.
“Instead, he felt it appropriate to indulge in an incontinent rant, devoid of anything constructive, which amounted to little more than a party political rant against Britishness, Brexit, and a host of other issues outside the remit of the conference.
“This is a clear abandonment of his obligation to political neutrality as the leader of a publicly funded body and charity.
“His disavowal of the ‘Britain is GREAT’ campaign – which has generated more than £800m to the British economy – is simply cutting his nose off to spite his face. This was a squandered opportunity for the museum to forge closer links with Visit Britain, which would be a powerful vehicle to boost Wales’s overseas profile.
“What I find sad is that, among the hysteria, he may have had interesting points to make about how Wales can be better placed in that marketing campaign or, indeed, the role of the museum in helping tell Britain’s stories.”
Ms Davies claimed that visitor numbers to the National Museum of Wales had declined by 6% since Mr Anderson took up his post of director general in 2010.
However Mr Anderson rejected Suzy Davies’ criticism and stated that her contention on visitor numbers was wrong.
David Anderson told The Herald: “My office has been in touch with Suzy Davies to offer a meeting to address some of the concerns she raises, as well as to share a full set of visitor figures since 2010.
“Amgueddfa Cymru is on track to achieve its highest ever visitor numbers in 2017-18, having already broken a number of records recently. This includes 297,792 visitors to its seven museums in August 2017 – the best ever August visitor figure achieved by Amgueddfa Cymru, and up on August 2016 by 18.9%.
“On the point of neutrality, I would argue that museums are not just passive keepers of the past, but also play a key role in posing challenging questions and encouraging debate. And it is my role as Director General of the National Museum of Wales to stimulate debate.
“It was in this context that I put forward the argument at the conference that we urgently need a new and more contemporary definition of Britishness in which Wales’s voice is much more strongly heard, and that reflects the diversity of cultures and identities of the nations and regions of the United Kingdom.
“We have always worked closely with Visit Wales, and through them, Visit Britain to promote Wales both across the British Isles and internationally to ensure we make the most of the opportunities to attract visitors here.”
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