MPs to debate returning Elgin Marbles to Greece

Telegraph

29-04-2025

MPs will debate the return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece on Wednesday.
Alberto Costa, the Tory MP for south Leicestershire MP, secured the Westminster Hall debate on the sculptures, which he wants returned on indefinite loan.
He told The Telegraph that a deal could be sweetened if Greece agreed to waive the £17 entry fee to the Acropolis Museum for British visitors.
The museum is already free for Greeks and would house the sculptures, which are also known as the Parthenon Marbles. Some 4.5 million British tourists visited Greece in 2023, the highest number on record.
Mr Costa said: 'Greece could show goodwill towards British citizens by allowing British citizens free access to view the marbles in their new purpose-built home.
'This proposal is not about emptying the British Museum. It's about restoring a set of uniquely significant artefacts to their original context.'
He said Athens could also offer a series of rotating exhibitions of Greece's most treasured artefacts, including the likes of the Antikythera mechanism, the world's first known analogue computer, and the Mask of Agamemnon, in major museums across the UK.
Mr Costa, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Greece, added: 'This debate is not about apportioning blame or rewriting history.
'It's about seizing a post-Brexit opportunity, to show friendship, mutual respect and imagination in our cultural diplomacy.'
Margaritis Schinas, a former European Commission vice-president and an ally of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek prime minister, backed the idea and said it would help Sir Keir Starmer's 'reset' with the EU.
He told The Telegraph: 'Alberto Costa MP's initiative is a welcome example of how dialogue and imagination can overcome historic grievances and build enduring friendship.
'A negotiated, long-term arrangement for the Parthenon Marbles would be a powerful symbol of goodwill between Britain and Greece. It would also mark a positive step in redefining the UK's cultural and diplomatic relationships after Brexit.'
The debate will take place on Wednesday at 11am in the Grand Committee Room. It is expected to last about 40 minutes and the Government must respond to questions raised.
History of the Elgin Marbles
The British Museum and Athens are in negotiations over the return of the sculptures and architectural features taken from the Acropolis by Lord Elgin between 1801 and 1805.
Lord Elgin is accused by Greece of having stolen the marbles or bribed officials to get them. The British Museum insists that the marbles were legally bought from the Ottoman Empire, which ruled Athens at the time.
Negotiators' hands are tied to an extent by the British Museum Act 1963, which is a legal barrier to simply returning the marbles. An indefinite loan would circumvent it.
The talks have dragged on since 2021. In December there were reports that a deal was 'close' after negotiations between George Osborne, the chair of the British Museum, and the Greek foreign ministry.
That deal was planned to be underpinned by a cultural partnership between the UK and Greece and blockbuster Greek exhibits touring the UK in return for the loaning back of the marbles.
The Government has said the negotiations are a matter for the British Museum and Sir Keir has made it clear that he will not obstruct any deal to return the marbles.