Monday, 5 January 2009
"It's not as if it's Jock McTitian"
This is easily the most toe-curling statement of 2009 so far:
A painting by Titian has sparked a political row after the Scottish Government confirmed it had pledged a "significant sum" towards its purchase. It followed newspaper reports that the government was contributing £17.5m towards acquiring the work of art.
The National Gallery of Scotland and London's National Gallery are hoping to raise £50m to buy Diana and Actaeon.
But Glasgow MP, Ian Davidson, questioned the logic of spending such large sums during an economic downturn.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Davidson, the member for Glasgow South West, said: "It is difficult to argue that this is part of Britain's cultural heritage when it's a picture by a long dead Venetian - it's not as if it's Jock McTitian."
Oh, dear God, how fucking embarrassing.
"Very few people will ever have heard of Titian, many will have thought he was an Italian football player. What is the point of wasting this money in this way?"
Well, I guess that all depends on what parts of Britain's "cultural heritage" you consider worth preserving. I mean, just to take an entirely random example, this is loose change compared to the £40m we spend every year on MPs salaries (PDF, p.30). Very few people will have heard of Ian Davidson MP either - with the possible exception of the luckless constituents he's been patronising as ignorant proles on the airwaves all morning - but we are obliged to waste money on him nonetheless.
I am not wild, to put it mildly, about the government spending £17.5 million of my money to stop a painting being sold abroad. But I'll wager that a room full of even the most obscure Renaissance art does more to enrich the cultural life of Scotland than a building full of Scottish Labour MPs. And I can assure you, Mr Davidson, that nobody would start a fucking campaign if they were threatening to sell you abroad.
Labels: Culture, Nu Lab, Scotland
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It wasn't just 'Good Morning, Scotland' he said it on, my lovely. I heard it before 7am on the Toady programme and am still giggling.
Hear, hear. I heard Davidson as well and the only good point is that the numpty gave me a laugh on a cold and frosty morning.
I disagree that no-one would start a campaign if he came on the market. I would hope there would be a pro-selling one to pack him off elsewhere, and take some of his NuLab chums with him.
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I disagree that no-one would start a campaign if he came on the market. I would hope there would be a pro-selling one to pack him off elsewhere, and take some of his NuLab chums with him.
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