Leading art critic Sir Roy Strong (pictured) has said that the National Trust had become obsessed with a tick-box culture of ‘the disabled, the aged, LGBT and ethnic communities’ and had ‘got lost along the way
The National Trust is so Left-leaning it’s like ‘the Blair government in exile’, leading art critic Sir Roy Strong said yesterday.
The former director of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery said the trust had become obsessed with a tick-box culture of ‘the disabled, the aged, LGBT and ethnic communities’ and had ‘got lost along the way’.
It has become so dumbed down with its focus on ‘children, play areas and fun’ that it was ‘like a branch of the leisure industry’, he added.
Sir Roy’s comments were made as it emerged the trust is set to continue promoting trendy causes.
The charity came under fire this month after ‘outing’ the last squire of a stately home and forcing volunteers at the property to wear rainbow badges to promote gay rights. But in a message to staff about the furore at Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk, it has revealed it will turn its attention to women’s rights next year.
The decision comes despite the imminent departure of director-general Dame Helen Ghosh, who had been warned against politicising the organisation.
Sir Roy, 81, told BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend the trust was ‘beginning to alienate its own public’ who have ‘limited means to express their views or criticisms’.
‘A lot of it goes back to the direction it’s being taken in,’ he said. ‘They’ve had two director-generals, both competent in their own way… but too Left-leaning.
Up to 75 unpaid guides revolted at Felbrigg Hall, pictured, after Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer, who donated the property to the trust, was outed in a film played to visitors
‘They came out of the Civil Service and both were bent on what I call embracing the new inclusiveness – ticking the boxes and all the new management speak which has poured out in all directions. So if you go to a National Trust house or property, you’ll be almost told what to think or how to react.’
He added: ‘So much of what they’re doing is like the Blair government in exile. It’s ticking the boxes of the disabled, the aged, LGBT and ethnic communities and the rest of it and something gets lost along the way. We need a new director-general who will be able to reinvent heritage for a new generation.’
The charity came under fire this month after forcing volunteers at the property to wear rainbow badges to promote gay rights
Dame Helen announced last month that she was leaving after five years in charge of the trust. The former Home Office civil servant will become Master of Balliol College, Oxford, in March. Her predecessor was Dame Fiona Reynolds, who was director of the Women’s Unit in the Cabinet Office before becoming director-general of the National Trust in 2001.
Responding to Sir Roy’s criticism on the same programme, Dame Helen admitted the trust might be alienating people. ‘In order to be open-armed to welcome the widest possible group of visitors to our places, sometimes some of our perhaps more traditional visitors have felt that they are not being catered for as they once felt they were.’
However, an FAQ (frequently asked questions) document sent to volunteers following the mutiny over Felbrigg Hall suggested there were no plans to change direction. In a section headed ‘Why is the National Trust talking about LGBTQ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer] history?’ it says: ‘In 2018, it will be the turn of women’s rights celebrating the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage.’ Under another heading, ‘Why did you make a U-turn?’ [about the identification badges], it again suggests it has no intention of dropping politically correct causes.
‘A programme like this is a very new area for us and it is inevitable that we will make mistakes as we go along – the important thing is that we learn from them and don’t let them detract from our cause and what we are trying to achieve,’ it says.
Ironically, Octavia Hill – one of the three founders of the National Trust – was opposed to female suffrage.
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: ‘I thought the National Trust was there for the preservation of buildings and history.’
Josie Gallagher, who along with her husband quit as a volunteer at Felbrigg Hall over the direction the trust was taking, said: ‘They’re still going down this PC route and we don’t know why. These are trendy causes but not what the trust is about and never has been.’
Ukip MEP Gerard Batten added: ‘This again shows how the politically correct Left have infiltrated all the institutions and are now using them as a platform to promote their ideas.’
Up to 75 unpaid guides revolted at Felbrigg Hall after Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer, who donated the 17th century property to the trust, was outed in a five-minute film played to visitors and narrated by Stephen Fry. Their outrage was intensified by an order to wear the rainbow lanyards and badges as part of the Prejudice and Pride campaign marking the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality.