A senior civil servant was left unable to properly explain one of the government’s flagship cultural priorities during a Public Accounts Committee hearing, in an exchange that has raised serious questions about how Labour is directing Britain’s national museums.

The moment came when Robert Lowe questioned the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport about new departmental priorities handed down by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.

The Priorities No One Can Properly Define

In July 2024, Lisa Nandy set out three new priorities for her department:

• Growth and good jobs in every place
• Richer lives with choices and opportunities for all
• A more socially cohesive country with an inclusive national story

Lowe described the first two as “verbal baby food.” He then focused on the third: “a more socially cohesive country with an inclusive national story.”

He asked how institutions such as the Natural History Museum — whose purpose is to display geology and natural history — are supposed to deliver on an “inclusive national story.” He pointed out that geology is geology, and that foreign visitors come to Britain to see its history and culture as it actually is.

The Permanent Secretary’s Struggle

When pressed on how museums would be judged against this priority, Permanent Secretary Susanna Storey admitted that the department was still “working out exactly what our metrics are.”

She suggested that if the Secretary of State were present, she would be better placed to explain what she meant. She added that museums had been told what the priorities were and that they were “aware of them,” and that institutions “may well be doing things that contribute.”

Crucially, when asked directly what an “inclusive national story” actually means in practice, she was unable to provide a clear definition.

Lowe’s Warning on Visitor Numbers and Heritage

Lowe warned that interfering with how Britain’s history and collections are presented risked damaging visitor numbers at a time when many national museums have still not returned to pre-pandemic attendance levels.

He argued that Britain’s history is its history, and that successful institutions should not be forced to bend their core purpose to fit vague political slogans.

The National Audit Office had already flagged serious financial pressures across the museum sector in a March 2026 report. Around 25% of DCMS museum funding goes to the 15 sponsored national institutions, while the rest supports roughly 200 non-national museums. Visitor numbers remain below pre-pandemic levels.

The Real Problem: Vague Ideology Over Clear Direction

The exchange highlighted a deeper issue. National museums are being asked to deliver against a ministerial priority that, at the time of the hearing, had no clear operational definition, no published performance metrics, and no agreed criteria for success.

Lowe’s questioning was calm and methodical. He did not attack the idea of social cohesion or inclusivity in principle. Instead, he focused on practicality: how can museums be held accountable to a standard that the department itself cannot clearly define?

Protecting Britain’s Museums

Britain’s national museums are among the most visited in the world. The British Museum and Natural History Museum regularly rank in global top 10 lists. They are major tourist attractions, sources of national pride, and important educational institutions.

Robert Lowe’s intervention exposed a gap between ambitious-sounding government language and the practical reality of running world-class cultural institutions. When even the Permanent Secretary struggles to explain what a core priority actually means in practice, it suggests the policy has not been properly thought through.

Museums exist to preserve and present our heritage as it is. They should not be turned into vehicles for delivering vague and poorly defined political objectives.