As the British public waits for the UK’s heritage lottery fund to make up its mind about whether it will try to purchase an important Raphael painting which is in danger of being sold to an American musuem, Tristram Hunt is wondering why exactly the government continues to play a game it can’t win. “There is a long, ignoble tradition in this country of wealthy aristocrats blackmailing the state for cultural funds… The priority for the NHMF must be to look after the broader public heritage – not just ‘British’ art, which could produce some very uninspiring galleries, but art which speaks to a national or regional identity.”