Commentary posted on behalf of Dr. Robert G. Anderson in Cambridge U.K. 
(who does not subscribe to Museum-L).  He can be contacted at: 
[log in to unmask]

Delingpole's arguments are ones which I hear from a number of thoughtful
curators, though few of them are able or willing to make their voice heard.
The initiative has been taken up by those who want to use museums as
vehicles to promote particular social views and these people do not seem to
have concerns about the uniqueness, importance and fragility of museum
culture. 

If you want to follow this up further, it would be worth your reading the 
first chapter of Svante Lundquist (ed) 'Museums of Modern Science' (2000) -
 Neil Cossons 'Museums in the New Millennium', pp. 3-15. I have 
unintentionally covered some of the Delingpolian issues in a couple of
recent papers, one on museums and government in the 19th C (which also
refers to the present), and one on the state of museum research today -
though that was not my primary purpose in writing them. 

There is no really active debate being carried on in the UK. One reason, I 
suspect, is that government pays (directly or indirectly) the costs of 
most museums, and one argues against its cultural policies at one's peril 
('he who pays the piper calls the tune'). Josie Appleton's work is 
independent, and it is a breath of fresh air.

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