John Hurt and Mark Kermode backing battle to save museum

LEADING figures in film, television and radio have backed campaigns to prevent the closure of any of the North of England’s most prestigious museums as the Government was accused of failing to finance the venues adequately.
Bradford's National Media MuseumBradford's National Media Museum
Bradford's National Media Museum

The threatened closure of one of either the National Railway Museum in York, the National Media Museum in Bradford or the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester has seen an international outcry.

Among the celebrities who have added their support to the fight to keep the museums open are actor John Hurt and presenter Mark Kermode, who have both given their backing on Twitter.

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Hurt thanked more than 400 protesters who had turned up for a demonstration in Bradford over the weekend and re-tweeted a message about the campaign to save the National Railway Museum.

Kermode re-tweeted a message about the battle to prevent the closure of the National Media Museum, where he has appeared for the Bradford International Film Festival.

An online petition launched to keep the National Media Museum open had more than 24,000 signatures last night, with support from as far afield as Australia, America and Scandinavia.

The museum’s former curator, Tom Woolley, who left in December, launched the petition 
on Wednesday evening last 
week.

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Mr Woolley, who lives in Bradford and is now working as a freelance illustrator, said: “I set it up to try and quantify the public’s love of the museum and how devastating it would be if it closed. I have been overwhelmed by how much support there is, not just from here in the UK but from around the world too.”

The Yorkshire Post revealed last Thursday that Ian Blatchford, the director of the Science Museum Group, which also runs the Science Museum in London, had confirmed one of the three northern venues would be closing if an expected 10 per cent cut to budgets is confirmed.

But a question mark has been raised by council leaders in York, Bradford and Manchester over the Government’s allocation of funding to the science sector.

York Council’s leader James Alexander, Bradford Council’s leader David Green and Manchester City Council’s leader Sir Richard Lees highlighted a £13m “science and society” programme run by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) which finances a “plethora of initiatives”, but not the Science Museum Group.

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In a joint statement, they said: “This does not make sense because the science museums are trusted by the public and teachers and have the best experience of presenting science with the greatest impact and reach across the country.”

They also stated it would be “unthinkable” to shut London sites such as the Victoria and Albert or the National History Museum, but questioned why it appeared acceptable to threaten to close a northern location.

Fears are mounting over the economic impact that a closure would have, with the three museums generating more than £500m annually and providing in excess of 250 full-time jobs. Bradford was designated as the world’s first Unesco City of Film in 2009, and fears are mounting that the accolade will be lost if the media museum shuts.

The potential closure of one of the three museums emerged with the threat of further cutbacks which are expected to be imposed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

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Both the DCMS and the BIS stressed they could not anticipate the outcome of a Spending Review which is due to be announced on June 26. But Mr Blatchford maintained one of the museums will be forced to close if the latest funding cuts for his group are announced in Chancellor George Osborne’s Treasury speech.

Mr Blatchford revealed he had been told to expect the reduction after 2015, on top of the 25 per cent cut which his group had already endured. He said the 10 per cent cut equated to £4m a year for the group, which is already facing a £2m annual budget deficit.

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