A Real Threat to UK Archaeology'

Referring to a mind-blowingly irresponsible statement from the Minister of Culture, Rescue's Chris Cumberpatch says:

@DCMS @edvaizey absolute rubbish. Heritage heroes are the people who look after our heritage - not those that seek sordid profit from it. True "heritage heroes" are museum staff, local authority HER Advisors, the thousands of volunteers at local societies and academic researchers as well as archaeologists, conservation officers, curators and conservators. 

See: 'The real threat to archaeology", Adjacent Digital Politics 29/10/13

At what stage will we decide to act collectively to support under-resourced and vulnerable services and thus ensure that our historic sites and landscapes receive the protection that they require through the planning process? Will we rise to meet this challenge as we did in the early 1970s or will future generations look back on the early 21st century as the time when we abandoned our past to short-termism and financial expediency?