"The Importance of Public Debate on History"

"Our past is the fuel for debate about the future" argues Tristram Hunt in the Guardian:

history enjoys a uniquely controversial place within British public life. [...] Even if academic historians might not like it, politicians are right to involve themselves in the curriculum debate. The importance of history in the shaping of citizenship, developing national identity and exploring the ties that bind in our increasingly disparate, multicultural society demands a democratic input.

I expect there are those that would use this as an argument for supporting any type and form of "responsible artefact collecting" ("right to access/control the past").  I'd say though that should equally apply to all aspects of the way we treat the precious evidence of the past.

Tristram Hunt, 'History is where the great battles of public life are now being fought', Comment is free, Guardian Sunday 12 May 2013.