THE boss responsible for staff outsourcing was blasted yesterday for allowing visitors to take selfies at the National Gallery, writes Conrad Landin.

Last summer the flagship site lifted a long-standing ban on photography.

But staff union rep Neville Maguire, addressing the crowds at Saturday’s anti-privatisation rally, accused director Nicholas Penny of turning the gallery into a “disco.”

“If you go to the National Gallery you’ll see someone taking a selfie, and then you’ll see flashes of light,” he said.

“That’s the legacy of Nicholas Penny. If you want to go to a disco, you’d go to a disco.

“He’s turned it into a cross between Glastonbury and Alton Towers.”

In March the gallery banned “selfie sticks,” citing a need “to protect paintings, copyright of loans, individual privacy and the overall visitor experience.”