I ministri valutano la possibilità di far pagare ai turisti l’accesso alle collezioni dei musei nazionali del Regno Unito

And how are they going to differentiate between someone who lives here and is on holiday in say Chester as opposed to someone who is here on holiday from abroad without checking ID before entry? Or is that the idea?

In many countries tourists pay much more than locals and it makes sense. I’ve paid $50 in Petra and it was $1 for locals (sure prices have changed again). Many people come to London once or twice in their lives, they wouldn’t bulk at paying for NHM or British Museum. Just look at how much people spend on these trips anyway from West End tickets to meals out.
They should make more national treasures and monuments accessible for locals (I know families who can’t afford going to the Tower of London as ticket prices are so high).

Ugh. This has the potential to produce some really bad press. Its already bad enough that a Greek has to come to London to see the Elgin Marbles, if you charge him and not me then every complaint he makes will be more valid than ever.

I mean id like us to give back the looted heirlooms that people are actually requesting, but at the least try not to piss on the original owners

As a museums professional, I’d much rather see a tourist tax on arriving flights and use that.

We don’t show ID to visit the park or library. Museums should be an amenity with as little friction as possible.

So they now have to pay to see all the stuff we stole from their countries? Sounds about right.

I’m vehemently against charging tourists to access museums but would be in favour of a small short stay tourist tax when entering the country. A nominal fee of something like £10 a year to enter plus a small tax (say £2) per night ringfenced for the upkeep of our national, cultural and natural wonders (the very things people come here to see).

Plenty of countries have introduced similar.