London’s museums are the envy of the world. We must keep them free to enter, writes Sadiq Khan

For many of them, that means a trip to the museum.

In London, our new “Weekend Hopper” means that, for the first time, parents can make unlimited bus journeys every Saturday and Sunday for the price of a single fare. That’s just as well, because their options for places to visit are almost endless.

In the Natural History Museum, they can marvel at the wonders of the wild and lose themselves in tales of our prehistoric past. In the British Museum, they can learn about cultures from around the world – from China and Japan to Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. In the Tate Modern, they can admire era-defining art which has challenged old ideas and changed the world in the process. But wherever they choose to go, there will be one constant: they won’t have to pay a penny to enter.

Today, free museums and galleries are a fundamental part of London life – so fundamental, in fact, that we sometimes forget it didn’t use to be this way. Until 2001, many of the capital’s most important cultural institutions required visitors to pay for entry. It wasn’t until the government at the time introduced free admission that everything changed.

It’s impossible to overstate just how revolutionary this decision was. In the decade after free admission was introduced, visits to formerly paid-for museums in London increased by around 151%. Today, free admission to museums and galleries has come to embody our shared belief that access to art and culture is a right, not a privilege. For many Londoners, museums and galleries are also precious ‘third spaces’ – welcoming places where they can come to work, socialise, or simply sit quietly in peace, without being overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of the city outside.

In the last 25 years, free admission has also made London’s museums and galleries into a remarkable economic asset. With cities like Paris, Rome, and New York charging visitors for entry to many of their museums and galleries, the British model is unique and attracts tourists from around the world. In the last financial year alone, overseas tourists made 19.4 million visits to Britain’s state-sponsored museums and galleries, with the vast majority of these in London.

Many of those tourists will go on to spend money on hotels, restaurants, transport, and shopping, boosting businesses and supporting jobs not only in London, but across the country too. It’s no surprise, then, that free admission generates about £1 billion every single year in overseas tourism revenue.

London’s free museums and galleries are the envy of the world, but they shouldn’t be taken for granted. That’s why, as Mayor, I’ve provided unprecedented backing for art and culture across the capital, leaving a lasting legacy for generations of Londoners and visitors to come. Later this year, the London Museum will reopen in its new, state-of-the-art home in Smithfield Market. As a principal funder alongside the City of London Corporation, City Hall has played a crucial role in making this project possible.

In Stratford, meanwhile, we’ve led the £1.1bn East Bank project – the most significant single investment in London’s cultural landscape since the 1851 World Exhibition – providing it with more than £600m in support. The result has been a total transformation. Today, East Bank is home to an astonishing array of new attractions like the V&A East Storehouse and the V&A East Museum. All in all, the area is expected to draw in 1.5 million visitors every year. It will be home to new, much-needed affordable housing too.

Growing up on a council estate in South London, it sometimes felt like art and culture were off limits for someone like me. But free admission means that young Londoners today will never have to feel that way. That matters, because the capital’s cultural institutions aren’t simply windows to our past – they hold up a mirror to the present, allowing us to see all the strengths of our diversity. That’s one of the reasons why, as Mayor, I’ve worked tirelessly to expand access to culture to all corners of our city through initiatives like the London Borough of Culture.

The economic case for free admission for all is self-evident, but there is so much that it leaves unsaid – because the value of museums and galleries cannot be measured in pounds and pence alone. To me, the best argument is even more basic: Britain’s national story is a global story. If that story is to belong to all of us, then so must the places where it is told.

Art and culture are for everyone – no matter where they’re from, or how much money they earn. Today, our museums and galleries offer millions an experience of awe and wonder. By keeping them open to all, we can preserve that promise for generations to come, while strengthening our society and our international standing, too. For now, though, my message to Londoners and visitors alike is simple: get out there this summer, and discover all that our great city has to offer.

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Sir Sadiq Khan is the Labour Mayor of London.

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