Do the British Museum’s links with Palantir and BP bring it into disrepute? | Letter
Dr Chris Garrard responds to an article about George Osborne assuming that Palantir founder Peter Thiel’s visit to view the Bayeux tapestry would remain secret
As the chair of the British Museum, George Osborne is a holder of public office with a duty to be transparent. His comment that “it wasn’t like we expected anyone to know” about the billionaire Peter Thiel’s private view of the Bayeux tapestry suggests his loyalties lie more with the founder of Palantir and friend of Jeffrey Epstein over the openness that a national museum should demonstrate (George Osborne ‘thought Peter Thiel’s Bayeux tapestry visit would be secret’, 19 September).
Osborne then made the claim that the museum would shut down without unethical corporate sponsors such as BP. In fact, just a few weeks ago London’s Science Museum ended its decades-long partnership with BP, joining Tate, the National Portrait Gallery and others. Last year, 91% of members of the Museums Association also ratified a new code of ethics, which says that museums should “Transition away from sponsorship from organisations involved with environmental harm (including fossil fuels), [and] human rights abuses”.
