Britain keeps its museums free, and the turnstiles stay imaginary

For once, a government has resisted the temptation to invent a fee where none was needed. Lisa Nandy, the UK Culture Secretary, has confirmed that the country’s 15 national museums sponsored directly by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will remain free and open to all.

That list includes the Tate, the National Portrait Gallery, National Museums Liverpool and the British Museum. The policy of universal free entry began on 1 December 2001 and is due to mark its 25th anniversary later this year. In other words, it has survived long enough to become one of the rare public policies that did not immediately collapse under the weight of its own cleverness.

Nandy made the announcement at an event hosted by Art Fund and The Cultural Policy Unit at Tate Liverpool during Labour’s conference. It came after months of debate over whether international visitors should be asked to pay to enter national museums, a proposal that had already drawn opposition from London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who argued that free museums and galleries are a fundamental part of life in the capital.

The numbers help explain why the government chose the safer route. Visitor figures for the 15 national museums have risen by 96 per cent since universal free entry was introduced, climbing from nearly 22.8 million in 1999 to just under 44.7 million in 2025/26. That is a fairly awkward statistic for anyone who still believes access improves when you put a price barrier in front of it.

The policy’s defenders were predictably pleased. Alison Cole, director of the Cultural Policy Unit, said the government had recognised not only the economic merits of free entry but also its role in expressing values and shaping how Britain engages with the world. Gabriele Finaldi, director of London’s National Gallery, said free entry is one of the UK’s greatest cultural assets and allows millions to visit, enjoy and learn.

The contrast with France is hard to miss. There, any adult visitor from outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway now has to pay €32 to enter the Louvre, after a 45 per cent increase that took effect in January. The museum says the higher charge will help fund its “Louvre – New Renaissance” modernisation project and could bring in an extra €15 million to €20 million a year. Versailles, the Paris National Opera and the Château de Chambord have also raised prices for non-European visitors.

French researcher Patrick Poncet previously compared that approach with Donald Trump’s “America First” policy, under which foreign tourists in US national parks faced a higher entry fee from 1 January 2026. He described the French move as a symptom of the return of unbridled nationalism. Britain has taken the less dramatic path: it has kept its museums free, and in doing so avoided turning cultural access into yet another administrative exercise in selective generosity.

Written by Freya Stensrud freya.stensrud@alpineweekly.com