Opinions: Should we keep this statue?

RICHARD HARRIES, Bishop of Oxford: I am in favour of keeping The Three Graces. On whether the money should be better spent - well, we find the same problem in the Church - money available for one thing may not be available for another.

KATE STURDY, editor, Health and Efficiency magazine: I am very attracted to the aesthetic beauty of the nude body. I love women's bodies and men's bodies, but in different ways. It would be very advantageous for The Three Graces to stay in this country because it is a particularly beautiful statue.

MARTIN IRELAND, artist's model: All British culture is going to whoever has the biggest chequebook, so we should hold on to what we can. But I think semi-historical pieces like The Three Graces are a bit overrated. There's art and there's fart.

DAVE, taxi-driver: I've seen it in the papers and, frankly, I think - lovely girls but it's a hell of a lot of money.

DR YACUB ZAKI, art historian: It should be returned to Woburn Abbey where there is an empty plinth where it originally stood - and a special crank that enables the statue to be turned round so people can admire both the buttocks and the full-frontal nudity. I'd much rather see millions spent on this sculpture than on a Henry Moore.

CLAIRE SMITH, former Miss UK: The last time I went to an art gallery was when I was doing Art A-Level, but I think this statue is lovely. It should stay here. But it shouldn't be put away under lock and key.

MIKE HICKS, general secretary, Communist Party of Great Britain: Works of art which are treated as investments are overpriced. Their intrinsic value is the insight they offer the onlooker. They should be retained for, and owned by, the people.

DAVID FLIPPING, security controller, Victoria and Albert Museum: It belongs here. I guarded it a few years back and it was very popular.

KATE, art student: God knows, I've never heard of it. Botticelli is my favourite.

(Photograph omitted)