Taxpayers’ £740k bill for embassy flights of fancy
‘Porn sites must have age check’
CAMPAIGNERS have urged Boris Johnson to bring in legislation to use age checks to stop young people watching pornography online.
A law was passed in 2017 but never acted upon. Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan said: “Children tell us that unwanted exposure to explicit and violent pornography is their main concern when it comes to the internet.
“It can rob children of their childhood and lead to serious harm.”
John Carr, of the UK Council for
Child Internet Safety, said similar measures had already worked to keep young people away from gambling websites.
He said: “We desperately need something similar to keep kids off porn sites.”
Alastair Graham, of the Age Verification Providers Association, added: “Parents don’t want to wait years more for safeguards they thought Parliament had already passed a law to enforce.”
MORE than £700,000 of taxpayers’ cash has been spent transporting artworks around the globe to adorn embassies, consulates and ambassadors’ homes.
In five years £740,234 has been spent moving government-owned paintings, sculptures and other artworks around the UK and the world.
Art transport companies charge a premium, meaning the bill for one work often far exceeds a plane ticket.
Last year, art air transport firm Martinspeed received £34,865 to send 28 pieces out to Tokyo to decorate the ambassador’s home.
These included works by contemporary British artists such as Tracey Emin, who found fame for My Bed which showed her unmade bed, and Chris Ofili, who used elephant dung in some paintings.
The fee was also for shipping 14 artworks back to the UK from Tokyo, including a 3ft high wooden egg by artist David Nash.
Another £3,146 was spent moving 13 artworks to Paris, while three returned at a cost of £1,035.
A total of £3,717 was spent flying one work – a print of artificial flowers in a glass vase by Hurvin Anderson – to Los Angeles. And in 2016, £38,819 was paid to ship nine pieces to the ambassador’s residence in Beijing and for the return of another 14.
Sam Packer, at the Taxpayers’ Alliance, called such spending of tax money “preposterous”. He said: “They should be keeping costs as low as practically possible, not splashing the cash to ensure diplomats are surrounded by famous paintings.”
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport said: “The Government Art Collection displays British works of art worldwide to promote UK creativity and showcase the nation’s talented artists.
“It is an important part of our cultural diplomacy work, and displays are periodically refreshed in a way that minimises transport costs while ensuring the safety and security of the works in the collection.”