Is Bradford's media museum now being '˜downgraded by stealth'?

The Science Museum Group announced that the Royal Photographic Society’s collection housed at the National Media Museum (NMM) in Bradford will be moved to the Victoria & Albert Museum to create “the world’s foremost single collection on the art of photography” in London.

Politicians, in Bradford, have criticised the move, claiming that it is London-centric and appears to contradict Government plans to create a “Northern Powerhouse”.

The museums said the transfer of the collection reinforced the NMM’s new focus on science, technology, engineering and maths.

Now the Bradford South MP Judith Cummins has started a petition calling on Culture Minister Ed Vaizey to intervene. It has been signed by 67 people so far yesterday.

It said: “The National Media Museum is a hugely important part of the cultural offer not just in Bradford and the region but for the nation as a whole.

“Visitor numbers have been rising, so to now learn that the Royal Photography Society’s world-renowned photography is to be shipped off to London raises serious concerns that the museum is being downgraded by stealth.

“That cannot be right and has to be resisted. I’m calling on Culture Minister Ed Vaizey MP to intervene and the Science Museum Group to rethink this detrimental move.”

Coun Simon Cooke, the leader of the Bradford Conservative group has criticised the planned move as “an appalling act of cultural vandalism”.