(Image: Kirsty Anderson)
Scotland’s two governments have been urged to “put their hands under the Mack and lift it out of the ashes”, in a call for a Notre-Dame-style state rescue of the Glasgow School of Art.
Labour MP Torcuil Crichton told the Commons that restoring the fire-ravaged Mackintosh building could deliver a “big win” for both Andy Burnham and John Swinney, serving as the ultimate test of their promised new era of intergovernmental co-operation.
He said saving the building was a national responsibility.
However, Scotland Office minister Melanie Ward stressed that culture and heritage are devolved, and pointed the institution towards lottery funds and the Glasgow City Region Deal instead.
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In a late-night Commons adjournment debate on Monday, Mr Crichton, the Labour MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, said: "Collectively, we are all custodians of the Mackintosh. It should fall on us as a nation to restore the building to its glory. The Government should be willing and ready to engage with Glasgow School of Art in the project. Let us be clear: this can be done."
Torcuil Crichton in the House of Commons (Image: House of Commons/PA Wire)
He pointed to Notre-Dame, where "the French Government stepped in with the full muscle of the state" after the 2019 fire. The cathedral reopened in December 2024 after a restoration funded by more than €840 million in public and private donations.
The Mackintosh Building, completed in 1909 to Charles Rennie Mackintosh's design, caught fire for the first time in May 2014, badly damaging the west wing and destroying its famous library.
Restoration work began following that fire, but before it was finished, a second and far more severe fire broke out in June 2018, gutting the building and leaving it a burnt-out shell.
The school's governors have said they cannot afford it alone and are using their insurance settlement for a stabilisation project instead, with work due to start next summer.
Mr Crichton said the cost was beyond the school's reach: "That is a simply insurmountable sum for Glasgow School of Art alone."
"It is more than five times its annual turnover," he added. "That is why I am making this speech this evening."
He called on Holyrood and Westminster to "come together, put their hands under the Mack and lift it out of the ashes".
He added that restoring the building could be "a big win" for both governments.
Although the late-night debate was well attended, there were no SNP MPs in the chamber.
Cross-party support came from former Scottish Secretary David Mundell, who said he had argued for UK Government intervention after the first fire in 2014.
"Glasgow School of Art is a national institution and Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a national figure across the United Kingdom," he said. "I absolutely agree with [Mr Crichton] that, given the national significance of the Glasgow School of Art, the UK Government have a role to play in its renovation."
Other Labour MPs lined up to back the cause. Patricia Ferguson, chair of the Scottish Affairs Committee, argued the building's condition had contributed to the decline of nearby Sauchiehall Street. Glasgow North MP Martin Rhodes, in whose constituency the Mack stands, said any plans must learn the lessons of its "recent tragic past".
Glasgow South MP Gordon McKee said the rebuild should be a chance for young Glaswegians to learn the skills to be part of it.
Ms Ward, in her first Commons debate since becoming a Scotland Office minister, praised the school and recalled visiting the Mack as a student. She told MPs she had recently met members of Glasgow School of Art's leadership, but said the government needed to be "clear about the financial realities".
"The question of Government support must, of course, be considered carefully," the minister said. "Public money has to be used responsibly, and any proposal must be assessed against clear evidence of need, affordability, deliverability, and public benefit."
Ms Ward reminded MPs that the UK Government gave £10m after the 2014 fire, with a further £5m in 2015-16, both channelled through the Scottish Government.
"Of course, culture and heritage are devolved matters, and the Scottish Government have responsibility for this policy and funding in Scotland," she said. "We respect that settlement and the principles of devolution, as the Prime Minister made so clear in Motherwell last week."
The interior view up through the floors in the west side of Glasgow School of Art's fire-damaged Mackintosh Building. (Image: PA)
She also noted the £870m injected into the region through the Glasgow City Region Deal and suggested GSA keep talking to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which has previously given it almost £5m. She conceded that these funds "cannot meet the full cost of restoration" but said they might support "key phases".
Ms Ward said: "I cannot make a commitment to new funding today, but I can reaffirm our willingness to listen, to engage with all partners, as he suggested, and to explore practical and realistic ways forward, including new suggestions that may come along.
"I hope, too, that the Scottish Government will act, and that they will hear our willingness to act with them.
"The Mack inspired generations of artists and designers, helped to define Glasgow's artistic identity, and earned a place on the world stage. We owe it to those who built that legacy, to the communities who cherish it and to the generations yet to come to give serious consideration as to how it can continue."
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In August, Education and Culture Secretary Màiri McAllan told The Herald she was offering ministers' "convening power" to get the project moving after GSA admitted it could not afford the rebuild alone. She suggested Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Life and the UK Government should all have a role.
"It's now about getting partners around the table and working out the art of the possible. Really significant capital projects, with all the increasing costs of recent years, can only really be managed by a collaboration."
Ms McAllan said she wanted to offer her "full support and leadership", but insisted it was for the art school, not the government, to lead on the restoration. "I'm not really concerned about leading on the Mack. It's about bringing interested parties together to work out the approach, what is required and what contributions can be made from where."
She did not say how much the Scottish Government might contribute, and GSA has said early talks with ministers and the council have produced no offers of funding.