Elgin Marbles could return to Greece on loan, after diplomatic row over their return
THE ELGIN Marbles could be sent back to Greece in a loan deal - after Rishi Sunak caused a diplomatic tow over them being returned.
Ex-Tory Chancellor George Osborne, now chair of the British Museum, insists any deal wouldn’t alter their ownership.
The Prime Minister cancelled a meeting with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis back in November accusing him of grandstanding over the issue.
But Mr Osborne told the Political Currency podcast: “Certainly the trustees of the museum are very much up for a deal.
";I think the Greek government is very much up for a deal.
“And even if the British government is not speaking to the Greek prime minister, the British Museum is.”
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He added: “I think we could reach an agreement whereby a portion of the marbles are at any one time on display in Athens and at the same time some wonderful Greek treasures that have never left Greece come and are on display in the British Museum.”
The move comes after Greece’s Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said her country would lend the UK important historical artefacts in exchange for the marbles.
Lord Elgin removed the Marbles, also known as the Parthenon Sculptures, from Athens when he was British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in the early part of the 19th century.