Endangered British World Cultural Heritage

In the newly published protocol of the World Heritage Committee session in Quebec city, UNESCO criticises Britain's inadequate treatment of its World Heritage Sites. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung comments: "While other politicians, among them Prime Minister Gordon Brown and opposition leader David Cameron, gather Brownie points by spending their holidays at home, the representative of British tourism [Minister of State in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Margaret Hodge] freely admits she prefers going to Italy. As strong as the desire for political honesty and integrity may be, there may well be a bit of hypocrisy there - the parliamentary special committee for her portfolio has just criticised the government's uncoordinated approach to the tourist industry. ... Britain's attitude to its own World Cultural Heritage has met with widespread disapproval. ... To appease critics the British government points to a new landmark protection act. But ultimately the credit crisis may well be far more effective. Some skyscrapers planned to go up near the Tower of London have been put on ice or even scrapped altogether due to the insecure economic climate."

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