Labour Welsh First Minister says Elgin Marbles should be returned to Greece

Telegraph

05-04-2025

Eluned Morgan has broken ranks and called for the return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece.
Wales's First Minister is the first senior Labour figure to call for the repatriation of the ancient relics since the election.
In the clearest indication yet that the Government may be willing to hand the Marbles back, Ms Morgan told the Greek newspaper Ta Nea: 'The Parthenon Sculptures should be returned to Greece.'
'I think there's a lot of discussions going on. I hope they continue with those discussions.
'I know this is a really sensitive issue. It's a matter for the UK Government, but I think I've been on record in the past to say that actually they should be returned to Greece.'
The Elgin Marbles currently reside in the British Museum but the Greek government has long called for them to be returned.
Talks between Greece and the museum have been ongoing since 2021.
Last year Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, seemed to open the door to some form of repatriation.
She said in October: 'We're very keen to talk to our counterparts in Greece and to work with you to find a resolution to what has been a very long-running dispute'.
In December, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said the future of the Marbles was 'a matter for the trustees of the British Museum, which is operationally independent of the government'.
The Museum has said there are ' ongoing and constructive' talks about some form of temporary loan scheme.
Long-running diplomatic sore between UK and Greece
The Marbles were sculpted in the 5th century BC to adorn the frieze of the Parthenon temple of the Acropolis in Athens.
They were removed from the Acropolis by workmen under Lord Elgin in the early 19th century.
The British Museum acquired them from Lord Elgin in 1816 by an Act of Parliament and they have been displayed in Bloomsbury ever since.
The collection, sometimes known as the Parthenon Marbles, comprises a 75-metre long stretch of the original 160-metre Parthenon frieze, 17 pedimental statues and 15 of the original 92 metopes, carved rectangular plaques which sat above the columns of the temple.
Many of the leftover relics are displayed at the Acropolis Museum in Athens.
The fate of the Marbles has been a long-running diplomatic sore in Britain's otherwise friendly relationship with Greece.
In 2023 it triggered a row between Rishi Sunak, the then prime minister, and his Greek counterpart.
On a visit to the UK Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece's prime minister, called for their return. Mr Sunak responded by pulling out of a planned bilateral meeting.
'Serial theft'
The circumstances of the Marbles' removal from Greece is a longstanding controversy.
Advocates of repatriation say they were stolen from the Parthenon by bandits using saws and hammers, with the Greek government describing their removal as 'serial theft'.
But the British Museum continues to claim that many of the relics were removed 'from the rubble around the Parthenon'.
Meanwhile, Lord Elgin's claim that he obtained permission from the Ottoman government, then in control over the majority of present-day Greece, to remove the relics has been hotly contested for centuries.
When he was Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn promised to return the Marbles to Greece if he became prime minister.