Thursday 02 April 2026 5:58 am  |  Updated:  Wednesday 01 April 2026 2:58 pm

Make foreign tourists pay to keep museums free for Londoners

By: James Ford

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Free museum entry isn’t the feel-good policy you think it is. Time to charge foreigners and keep our precious collections free for Londoners, says James Ford

Is the idea of charging foreign tourists for access to major museums and art galleries really that radical a proposal? Judging by the reaction from some corners of the UK’s cultural elite, apparently so. The interim director of The Tate, writing in the Guardian, certainly thinks that “charging for entry would be a big mistake”. Even here in City AM, an unapologetic bastion of capitalism, the devotees of free museums have stated their case. 

The museum mafia seem very anxious about the idea that they might have to compete for tourist numbers based on the appeal of their collections rather than the mere fact that visitors can enter for free. And that should probably concern all of us, especially taxpayers. Afterall, currently free entry to significant museums and galleries is not really ‘free’ to UK citizens; we fund the scheme through our taxes, effectively subsidising foreign tourists to gawp at our national treasures. Making foreign tourists pay an entry fee in order to fund free........

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