IMPERIALIST HUBRIS

Greek PM unhappy after UK’s Sunak cancels talks amid Parthenon marbles spat


AFP
November 27, 2023

Part of he Parthenon Marbles, also known as the Elgin Marbles, at the British Museum in London - Copyright AFP Bryan R. Smith

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his “displeasure” Monday over UK counterpart Rishi Sunak’s last minute cancellation of a bilateral meeting set to discuss their long-running dispute over the Parthenon Marbles.

The two leaders were due to hold talks midday Tuesday in London, where Mitsotakis has been visiting since Sunday, before news of their axing emerged late Monday amid an apparent spat over the so-called Elgin Marbles.

“I would like to express my displeasure at the British Prime Minister’s cancellation of our meeting just a few hours before it was due to take place,” the Greek leader said in a brief statement.

He reportedly declined a UK offer to meet Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden instead.

A Downing Street spokesperson said “the UK-Greece relationship is hugely important”, citing joint work within NATO and “tackling shared challenges like illegal migration” and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

“The deputy prime minister was available to meet with the Greek PM to discuss these important issues,” the spokesperson added, without referencing the marbles issue.

The sculptures were taken from the Parthenon temple at the Acropolis in Greece in the early 19th century by British diplomat Thomas Bruce, the earl of Elgin.

Athens maintains the marbles were stolen, which Britain denies, and the issue has been a source of contention between the countries for decades.

Sunak has “no plans” to facilitate their return to Athens, his spokesman said earlier Monday.

“Greece’s position on the issue of the Parthenon friezes is well known. I had hoped to have the opportunity to discuss them with my British counterpart,” Mitsotakis lamented.

“Those who believe in the rightness and validity of their positions are never afraid to confront the arguments,” he added.

According to the Greek news agency ANA, citing sources within the Greek government, the British prime minister was apparently upset by comments made by his Greek counterpart to the BBC on Sunday.

In his comments Sunday, Mitsotakis likened the collection being held at the British Museum to the Mona Lisa painting being cut in half.

Athens had been lobbying London for a deal that would return the sculptures under some kind of loan arrangement, he told the BBC.

A source from Britain’s ruling Conservatives told the broadcaster Monday that “it became impossible for this meeting to go ahead following commentary regarding the Elgin Marbles prior to it”.

burs-jj/pvh

 Good Tuesday morning. This is Rosa Prince.

RISHI LOSES HIS MARBLES: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is at the center of a diplomatic storm this morning after canceling a planned meeting with Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a spat over some cold, dead artworks. Playbook got a sniff of the brewing row when No. 10 reached out to say the planned prime ministerial tête-à-tête would instead feature Deputy PM Oliver Dowden, which seemed … odd, given Mitsotakis had said on telly he was due to meet Sunak. An hour or so later, the Greek PM announced he was cutting short his trip and heading home.

You say Parthenon Sculptures, I say Elgin Marbles: The row was triggered after Mitsotakis appeared on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, where he was outspoken about his distress at many of the sculptures still present in the British Museum. “It’s as if I told you that you would cut the Mona Lisa in half and you would have half of it at the Louvre and half of it at the British Museum,” he lamented, adding “this is exactly what happened with the Parthenon Sculptures.”

All Greek to me: Sunak is said to have been “irritated” by Mitsotakis’ words, so much so that he took the extraordinary step of calling off their talks, due at 12.45 p.m. today, while the Greek leader was halfway through a three-day trip to London. The Beeb’s Chris Mason quoted a “senior Conservative source” saying: “It became impossible for this meeting to go ahead following commentary regarding the Elgin Marbles prior to it.”

Undiplomatic: Rather than accept the switcheroo, Mitsotakis declined to meet Dowden and delivered a stinging rebuke: “I express my annoyance that the British prime minister cancelled our planned meeting just hours before it was due to take place. Anyone who believes in the rightness and justice of his positions is never afraid of confronting arguments.” My colleague Nektaria Stamouli has a write-up. 

**A message from Mastercard: Small businesses deserve access to resources which match their ambition. Mastercard’s Strive UK programme has helped over a million businesses access the tools, support, and insights they need to thrive. Find out more about how Strive UK is enabling British entrepreneurs to succeed in today’s digital economy.**

(Ancient) culture wars: The Greek PM was uninvited to tea with Rishi round about the time he was meeting Keir Starmer Monday evening — with the Tories eager to suggest the Labour leader was soft on the marbles. An insider close to the talks told Playbook the issue was “discussed, but wasn’t the focal point of the meeting.” They added that Labour sees the matter as one for the British Museum and the Greeks, not the U.K. government. 

Ouch: A Labour spokesperson said of Sunak’s decision not to meet Mitsotakis: “If the prime minister isn’t able to meet with a European ally with whom Britain has important economic ties, this is further proof he isn’t able to provide the serious economic leadership our country requires.”

But but but: A senior Conservative highlighted recent reports, briefed out over the weekend, that Starmer is “open” to the return of the marbles if an arrangement can be agreed between the museum and the Greeks. They added: “Starmer sold out to secure a meeting. It’s naive on his part and shows how little regard he has for British taxpayers who have looked after these for generations. Starmer is up to his old tricks of just telling the person in front of him what they want to hear.”

Hitting back: Labour said by pulling out of the meeting Sunak had missed an opportunity to discuss illegal immigration with a key European ally. The insider added: “Keir and the Greek PM discussed immigration in their meeting so you’ve got the leader of the opposition as the U.K. voice on all these important issues.”

Hot takes: Political X was divided, with some saying the government had massively messed up with the mega snub to the Greeks, and others arguing Labour had walked into a trap by appearing shaky over the marbles. A third and vocal group asked whether all of the above is the grandaddy of dead cats designed to distract from stuff the government really doesn’t want to talk about: we’re looking at you, James Cleverly. 

Playbook won’t be falling for that one: The full story of the home secretary’s travails follow.

But first more on the marbles: The Parthenon Project, which is working with both sides to try to find a joint solution that sees the sculpture reunified in Athens, said it was disappointed by the sudden collapse in talks. A spokesperson said: “It’s a shame the British prime minister feels he can’t discuss the subject of the Elgin Marbles with the Greek prime minister, especially given how much both countries stand to gain from a sensible resolution on this matter and the level public support for reunification.”

Look away now, Rishi Sunak: The Times leader column calls for the sculptures to be reunited and displayed “in their natural habitat.”

Want to know more about Mitsotakis? My POLITICO Colleague Anne McElvoy interviewed him for her Power Play podcast last month.

And now read this: Another top colleague, Graham Lanktree, wrote this fabulous POLITICO feature back in May on the knotty geo-diplomacy of countries returning (or not returning) stolen artefacts to their rightful place — focused on the famously cursed Koh-i-Noor diamond which is part of the Crown Jewels.

U.K. archives show Parthenon marbles role in 2012 Olympics lobbying

Agence France-Presse
December 29, 2023 

Parthenon Marbles (AFP)

Powered by Trinity Audio

The U.K. government tried to help Greece secure the Parthenon Marbles on loan two decades ago in a bid to drum up support for London's 2012 Olympics' bid, according to files released Friday.

Internal British government correspondence from 2002 and 2003 about the Parthenon friezes, also known as the Elgin Marbles, were revealed as the issue continues to dog U.K.-Greece relations.

Just last month, the Elgin marbles caused a fresh diplomatic spat with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak axing a meeting with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the last minute.

It followed a BBC interview with Mitsotakis the previous day in which he aired frustrations over the long-contentious issue.

The 2,500-year-old sculptures were taken from the Parthenon temple at the Acropolis in Athens in the early 19th century by British diplomat Thomas Bruce, the earl of Elgin, and subsequently handed to the British Museum.

Greece maintains the marbles -- a major draw for visitors at the world-famous London museum -- were stolen, while the U.K. insists they were obtained legally and should remain on display in the British capital.

In the early 2000s, progress on resolving the thorn in bilateral ties appeared imminent.

Greece proposed a then-novel solution, suggesting the friezes return to Athens in the form of a long-term loan, bypassing the issue of ownership.

The country was keen for the sculptures to go on display in the Greek capital -- at a new museum being built on the Acropolis -- to coincide with the 2004 Olympic Games set to be held there.

At the same time, then-UK leader Tony Blair and his government were stepping up lobbying efforts to secure the 2012 Olympics for London.


- 'Blinkered intransigence' -

Against that backdrop Sarah Hunter, Blair's lead adviser on culture, media and sport policy issues, sent him an April 2003 memo arguing "there are good reasons for us to change tack" on the marbles.

Several months earlier, Blair had discussed the loan proposal with his Greek counterpart Konstantinos Simitis, but had subsequently written to him saying "this is not an issue on which the UK govt (government) would seek to intervene" on.

London had long maintained it was a matter for the British Museum and its trustees alone.

But noting it could be a "powerful bargaining chip" in International Olympic Committee votes for the 2012 Games, Hunter now suggested the government "privately and publicly encourage" the museum "to find an accommodation over the next 12 months".

The top aide acknowledged the Greek case had "become more sophisticated" with its loan plan, and accused the museum of "blinkered intransigence to consider any compromises".

She goes on to suggest supporting a recent proposal from former British foreign secretary David Owen for a UK-Greece treaty governing the loan arrangement.

"It seems sensible: rational policy-making favours the Greeks," Hunter wrote, while adding the museum's trustees must ultimately make the decision.

Blair appears amenable, replying "yes" in a handwritten note on the memo.

He suggests putting Owen "in charge of negotiating this", adding that the veteran politician could "probably help with the BM (British Museum), whilst distancing it a little from govt".

However, the initiative appears to have quickly stalled, with the museum issuing a statement four months later in August 2003 saying "the trustees cannot envisage any circumstances under which they could accede to the Greek government's request".

Britain nonetheless succeeded in securing the 2012 Olympics, but two decades on, it remains at loggerheads with Athens over the Parthenon Marbles.

'Elgin Marbles' solution? How American billionaire Leonard Stern may have created a model for reunification of Parthenon sculptures in Athens – Matthew Taylor

The frameworks of many good stories start by setting out the characters.

By Matthew Taylor

About half of the sculptures that once adorned the Parthenon in Athens are in London's British Museum

 (Picture: Matthew Fearn/PA)


Leonard Norman Stern is a New York real estate mogul worth nearly £5 billion. New York’s Metropolitan Museum, aka the Met, is the largest museum in the Americas, with a collection of over two million objects.

The Museum of Cycladic Art is an institution created by Greek shipping magnate Nicholas P Goulandris. The Greek Government hopefully requires no further explanation.

So, on to the story. Leonard Stern amassed an impressive collection of ancient Cycladic art. For those that haven’t seen it, these works are generally small stone sculptures dating from 3,300 to 1,100BCE.

This is way older than the Ancient Greece of the Parthenon, the Olympic Games and Alexander the Great that we tend to think of – but at the same time these figurines are oddly ageless and could be contemporary pieces. They are works that make you realise that maybe the minimal aesthetic of modern art isn’t always so modern.

However, Stern recently entered an agreement with a new entity, the Hellenic Ancient Culture Institute (an organisation whose directors represent Stern and the Goulandris Museum) – essentially a special-purpose vehicle created for this deal. That deal is, broadly speaking, for ownership of Stern’s collection to be transferred to the Greek state, but that, for the next 25 years, the works will be exhibited in the Met. After ten years, other artefacts covered by the agreement will periodically travel to Greece for temporary exhibition.

This whole arrangement is not without controversy (that though is a story for another day). What is interesting however is that a deal was reached and agreements were made and signed off by the Greek parliament.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has described the agreement as "a blueprint for other solutions to come", hinting that this was in reference to the Parthenon Sculptures, aka the Elgin Marbles, in the British Museum.

Recently, George Osborne, the chair of the British Museum’s trustees, stated that he is “confident that there are long-term partnerships to be struck” in relation to the return of disputed artefacts. Both sides, it appears, are in the mood for making a deal – and a possible template for one is now out there.

Previous negotiations have stalled over the matter of ownership – but what if the British Museum were to acknowledge Greece’s ownership of the works, while retaining the rights to exhibit them – for now. Surely this could be a big step forward?

In the past, Greek governments have shied away from serious negotiations for fear of how a compromise settlement would play out in the media. Any steps forward are better than no steps at all though.

The issue can be broken down into chunks and each of these can then be a small move towards the ultimate goal. There are many ways this might be a win-win scenario for both of the key parties here, with neither losing face, whilst jolting the debate on from the current stalemate that has existed for many decades.

To move forward will almost certainly require compromises – the question though is what compromises either side will accept. Maybe, we’ve begun to glimpse the terms for a new playing field for the debate?

Matthew Taylor is a member of the British Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures

IMPERIALIST PIRACY

Greece PM laments lack of progress with UK on Parthenon Sculptures

The Parthenon Sculptures were removed  STOLEN 

by British diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 19th century.

PHOTO: Reuters

PUBLISHED ONNOVEMBER 26, 2023 


LONDON — Talks over a possible return of the British Museum's Parthenon Sculptures to Athens are not advancing quickly enough, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday (Nov 26).

His comments came as he prepared to meet British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the coming week.

Athens has long campaigned for the return of the Elgin Marbles, as they are often described.


The 75m of Parthenon frieze, 15 metopes and 17 sculptures were removed by diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 19th century, when he was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which was then ruling Greece.

"We have not made as much progress as I would like in the negotiations," Mitsotakis told BBC television on Nov 26. "I'm a patient man, and we've waited for hundreds of years, and I will persist in these discussions.

"We feel that the sculptures belong to Greece and that they were essentially stolen," Mitsotakis added before playing down the ownership aspect of the discussions and focusing instead on the importance of reuniting the sculptures with those in Athens.

GOT A RECIEPT?!

British officials say the works were acquired legally.

Sunak in March ruled out any change to a law that stops the British Museum handing the marbles back to Greece permanently, but the legislation does not prohibit a loan.

George Osborne, a former British finance minister who is chairman of the museum's trustees, this month expressed hope for a deal that would allow the sculptures "to be seen in Athens".

Mitsotakis is due to meet Sunak on Nov 28.

That meeting will come a day after the Greek Prime Minister meets Keir Starmer, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, which is riding high in opinion polls ahead of an election expected in 2024.

The Financial Times last week reported that Starmer would not block a "mutually acceptable" loan deal for the sculptures.

Violence in Greece over efforts to preserve ancient heritage of Mykonos

Story by Helena Smith in Athens • 

Under cover of darkness in an Athens side street earlier this month, Manolis Psarros, an archaeologist, was attacked as he walked toward his car. It was 8.30pm, later than usual for the state employee to return home from his office in a neo-classical culture ministry building beneath the Acropolis.



“There was a general strike the next day and I needed to get through my files on Mykonos,” said Psarros, who has oversight of the Cycladic isle. “I can remember approaching the car but after that it’s a blur,” he told the Observer. “All I know is that I was struck on the head from behind with such force I lost consciousness.”

When the soft-spoken Greek came round in a hospital bed on 8 March he had broken ribs, a broken nose and eyes that had been so severely bruised his vision remains impaired.

For doctors they were wounds that spoke: Psarros clearly had been kicked and punched in an assault that bore all the hallmarks of a professional hit. The 52-year-old was lucky to be alive.

Almost three weeks later the ramifications of an attack that might otherwise have gone unnoticed are being felt across Greece.

As police intensify their investigation, the focus of inquiry has fallen, firmly, on Europe’s most famous party island where a building frenzy has put the archaeological service, entrusted with protecting Mykonos’s rich cultural heritage, on a war footing with developers.

For the past decade Psarros has headed the division that issues construction permits on the Aegean hotspot.

“Everything about this attack is indicative of how out-of-control the situation in Mykonos has become,” says Despoina Koutsoumba, who presides over the Association of Greek Archaeologists. “It’s clear, as there are no other motives, that this was a Mafiosi-style hit executed by people who followed Manolis from work. It’s about huge business interests and was aimed at striking fear into the hearts of archaeologists.”

Euronews
Greece welcomes Vatican's return of Parthenon fragments to Acropolis
View on Watch  Duration 0:35

WIONGreece: Three ancient artefacts return, fragments belong to Parthenon temple in Athens
3:00

The Associated PressGreece welcomes back ancient art held at Vatican
1:06

WIONGreece envoy Dimitrios Ioannou says, 'India has become global voice for the South'
3:42


Greece’s centre-right Greek government appears to agree. From the prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to law enforcers and local officials, there was consensus last week that the anomie underpinning illegal construction on one of Greece’s most popular destinations was linked to a crime for which perpetrators have yet to be found.

For years, Mykonos has been an international trailblazer as a playground for the rich; its bars, eateries and beaches, venues that have increasingly turned gargantuan profits.

But the brutal attack on Psarros has also exposed a darker side: of an island hijacked by interests that have come to see the rocky outcrop in a twilight zone beyond the reach of central government and the long arm of the law.

On Wednesday, as Mitsotakis convened a meeting of senior cabinet ministers to discuss the affair, officials were openly describing Mykonos as a “state within a state”.” Giving voice to those concerns, the Greek prime minister warned that public order measures would be enforced. In the coming days the first of 100 extra security personnel, including police officers, financial crime investigators, environment and building inspectors are expected to fly in. A crack down on illegal construction in rural areas, both on Mykonos and neighbouring islands in the Aegean archipelago, will also intensify.

Related: Pope Francis returns three fragments of Parthenon to Greece

“There is no such thing as an island where some people think they are above the law,” said Mitsotakis. “This is a situation that will be faced decisively.”

Greece’s community of archaeologists, a group no bigger than a 1000-strong, have long been regarded as the custodians of the nation’s extraordinary historical legacy. For many the hardy band of dedicated excavators and researchers are the last bulwark against depredations increasingly associated with tourism.

But with the industry accounting for 25% of GDP – and by far the biggest engine of the Greek economy – it is a delicate balancing act, one that ensures acknowledging the need for visitors with preserving the natural beauty that also lures them to the country.

The dramatic comeback of tourism post-pandemic had not helped. With Greece slated for another record season – last year it was the third most visited place on earth – the concerns of archaeologists forced to navigate a notoriously slow-moving bureaucracy matter little to investors. Fines slapped on offenders for building villas, hotels and beach bars close to, or on, ancient sites, “are nothing” compared with profits to be made, say locals who also lament the unruly development of an island that has left many unable to enjoy, or afford it. In recent years, as Mykonos has headed into a stratosphere of its own, investors from the Middle East have also moved in announcing controversial plans to construct a tourist village with a port capable of mooring superyachts.

“We want the state to be an ally to protect our island,” Mykonos’s mayor, Konstantinos Koukas, said last week. “We want mechanisms of control to be bolstered and of course we decry any threat against state employees. Today it is archaeologists. Tomorrow it will be us.”

Psarros also wants to return to work as soon as he recovers “because to do otherwise, or if I were to be removed from the post, would send the wrong message to my assailants”.

Time, says Koutsoumba, is of the essence: last week a female colleague on Mykonos was also targeted with threatening text messages. “If the government means what it says it will have to start demolishing illegal buildings,” said the archaeological association head who will participate in a protest rally outside Koukas’s town hall office on Tuesday.

“Right now it’s Mykonos, but later it will be some other island. The time has come for action and that means bulldozers being sent in. It’s the only language anyone will understand. An example needs to be set, and it needs to be set now.”

Elgin Marbles could ‘soon be returned to Greece’ as part of ‘cultural exchange’


Current laws prevent British museums from legally giving away items considered national treasures

Alana Calvert



The so-called Elgin Marbles could soon be returned to Greece
(PA)

The so-called Elgin Marbles could soon be returned to Greece as the British Museum reportedly closes in on a landmark deal.

George Osborne, chairman of the British Museum and former Tory chancellor, is understood to have drawn up an agreement with Athens as part of a “cultural exchange”, according to The Daily Telegraph.

It comes after the Government rejected Tory peer Lord Vaizey of Didcot’s call for a law change to make it easier for UK museums to deal with restitution requests.

Current legislation prevents treasures from being legally given away by the museum, but Mr Osborne, its chairman, is reportedly seeking to repatriate the antiquities as part of a long-term “cultural exchange”.

However, according to the Telegraph, the loan deal will not end the long-running dispute over the 17 sculptures and part of a frieze that decorated the 2,500-year-old Parthenon temple at the Acropolis.

The 2,500-year-old marbles were taken by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century when he was the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and have been the subject of controversy over where they should be displayed.

Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called for the marbles to be returned to Greece on many occasions, even offering to loan some of his country’s other treasures to the British Museum in exchange.

A Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) spokesperson told the PA news agency: “The Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum are legally owned by the Trustees of the British Museum, which is operationally independent of Government. Decisions relating to the care and management of its collections are a matter for the trustees.”

Last month the museum said in a statement it had “publicly called for a new Parthenon Partnership with Greece” and would “talk to anyone, including the Greek government about how to take that forward”.

It added: “We operate within the law and we’re not going to dismantle our great collection as it tells a unique story of our common humanity.

“But we are seeking new positive, long term partnerships with countries and communities around the world, and that of course includes Greece.”

Greece approves disputed museum law seen as antiquity 'export' plan

Issued on: 13/02/2023

Athens (AFP) – Greece's parliament on Monday approved a new law enabling the exhibition of rare antiquities outside the country, with archaeologists warning it could lead to the long-term "export" of rare items.

The move comes as the Greek government is engaged in talks with the British Museum on the possible return of the Parthenon Marbles after decades of wrangling between Athens and London.

The Financial Times last week reported that the famed prehistoric frescoes of Santorini "have been mentioned in Athens" as potential candidates for a loan swap.

The new law concerns five of the country's top state museums -- the National Archaeological Museum and the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens, the Archaeological Museum and Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki, and the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, Crete.

It enables the five museums -- which hold some of the country's most coveted ancient artifacts -- to create satellite branches outside Greece.

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni has said the changes give the museums more freedom to plan exhibits and raise sponsorship.

The association of Greek archaeologists has said it will block the law in court.

"Important antiquities could be sent abroad for 50, a hundred years or more," the association warned in a statement.

Greece's culture ministry has been trying for years to broker deals for the repatriation of antiquities without resorting to legal action.

Its chief goal remains the return of the Parthenon Marbles, held by the British Museum since the 19th century.

Mendoni on Monday said Athens is proposing "intertemporal exhibitions" of Greek artifacts in Britain for the "return and reunification" of the Parthenon Marbles.

Last year, the culture ministry brokered a deal to acquire 161 Bronze Age antiquities formerly in the collection of US billionaire and philanthropist Leonard Stern.

The agreement involves the artifacts gradually returning to Greece over the next 25 years after display at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The deal has sparked controversy among experts over the provenance of the antiquities.

The association of Greek archaeologists said Stern was a "proven recipient of smuggled archaeological discoveries" and that the agreement set a poor precedent to let wealthy collectors off the hook.

The archaeologists said Stern had previously owned a Bronze Age marble idol from Sardinia that was later seized in 2018 from billionaire collector Michael Steinhardt as illegally trafficked.

© 2023 AFP

 

Athens MUST admit that UK owns Elgin Marbles before any loan deal, Sunak tells Greeks


By Christopher Hope

Published: 01/12/2023 - 

George Osborne claimed Sunak had had a ‘hissy fit’ over the marbles

Greece needs to admit that the UK owns the Elgin marbles before any loan deal can be agreed, Rishi Sunak has said, as he risks reopening the row with Athens over the ancient treasures.

A diplomatic row broke out this week when Sunak cancelled a meeting with the Greek prime minister after he raised the issue of the marbles in a television minister, sparking a war of words between the two countries.

That led to George Osborne, the former Tory Chancellor and now chairman of the British Museum who has been trying to negotiate a loan deal for the marbles with Athens, saying that Sunak had had a "hissy fit" over the marbles.

However, speaking to reporters en route to the COP28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates, Sunak said: "When it comes to them our position is very clear as a matter of law the marbles can’t be returned and we’ve been unequivocal about that.

 Rishi cancels meeting with Greek PM amid Elgin Marbles row


"And I think the British Museum’s website itself says that in order for the loans to happen the recipient needs to acknowledge the lawful ownership of the country that’s lending the things.

"The Greeks have not suggested that they are in any way shape or form willing to do that.

"Our view and our position on that is crystal clear: the marbles were acquired legally at the time."

The Prime Minister’s comments come after George Osborne today said he would actively pursue a deal with the Greek PM, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to allow the Elgin Marbles to be displayed in Athens.

The Greek Prime Minister wants the Elgin Marbles back

George Osborne set to DEFY Rishi in Elgin Marbles row as he pursues deal with Greek PM

Osborne told The Times the negotiations would continue "whether or not Rishi Sunak meets the Greek Prime Minister” after a meeting between the pair was cancelled just hours before it was due to take place.

Mitsotakis snubbed a proposed alternative meeting with Deputy PM Oliver Dowden and said he was "deeply disappointed" by Sunak’s abrupt cancellation.

However, Keir Starmer successfully met with Mitsotakis on Monday, with Osborne claiming an exchange could happen under a Labour Government.

A spokesperson for Starmer said the Labour leader would "not spend any time legislating on this matter" if he became PM but that he "wouldn’t stand in the way" of a deal between the British Museum and Athens.

A diplomatic row broke out this week when Sunak cancelled a meeting with the Greek prime minister after he raised the issue of the marbles in a television minister

Speaking on his podcast Political Currency with co-host Ed Balls, Osborne said his deal with Greece would allow the sculptures to spend time in both London and Athens with the intention of allowing "Greek treasures coming our way in return".

"And that is, I think, something worth exploring," Osborne said, "and we can go on doing it whether or not Rishi Sunak meets the Greek prime minister or not.

"In fact, if anything, things have been rather clarified by this week. We obviously know we’re not going to get any particular support from the Conservative government.

"But in fact the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, also said that while he supported the British Museum’s efforts, he wasn’t planning to change the law.

"And if you don’t change the law, then there is no prospect anytime soon of them just being restituted to Greece, returned with nothing, simply handed back, which anyway wouldn’t be a decision for the museum.

"And so to my mind, as chair of the British Museum, it is all the more reason to press on with our efforts to try and reach an agreement with the Greeks."

Rishi Sunak is making it increasingly obvious that he is a terrible Prime Minister – Joyce McMillan

Elgin Marbles culture war, the disastrous Eat Out to Help Out scheme, record immigration figures, and the grim state of the economy all point to one conclusion: Rishi Sunak is almost as bad as Liz Truss

By Joyce McMillan

DEC 1,2023

THE SCOTSMAN

In the litany of terrible Prime Ministers Britain has endured since 2010, the best that can be said for Rishi Sunak is that he is probably not the worst. That honour is likely to be held, for some decades at least, by the inimitable Liz Truss, whose 46-day premiership last autumn was notoriously met by the new monarch, King Charles – when she turned up for a weekly audience – with the deathless greeting: “Back again? Dear oh dear.”

Yet if Sunak is performing better than Truss, it is still sometimes difficult to resist the feeling that he is doing his best to equal her in both incompetence and unpopularity. The latest debacle to engulf him – and one entirely of his own making – is the affair of what his Education Secretary Gillian Keegan calls the El-jin Marbles, otherwise known as the Parthenon sculptures, or part of them.

These massive sculptures were removed from the Acropolis in Athens between 1801 and 1812, under the supervision of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, who claimed – somewhat debatably – to have official permission for their removal from the Ottoman authorities. They were transported to Britain, and eventually sold by Lord Elgin to the British Museum; but in 1983, the Greek government made a formal request for their return, which has been strenuously debated ever since.

The problem, though, is that the fate of artefacts such as the Parthenon marbles has lately become a hot topic among those on the right who enjoy whipping up culture wars, not least around nostalgia for imperial times, when Britain had the power and wealth to raid or buy up the world’s riches at will. That these conditions no longer prevail in the 21st century is obvious; but it is also a source of grief to the empire nostalgists who currently exert a disproportionate influence over the Tory party, not least through the shrieking “patriotic” press.

So although Sunak has shown little sign of interest in culture and the arts in his public life, and is defended by an Education Secretary who knows so little of these sculptures that she cannot even pronounce their traditional British name, we are now treated to the spectacle of a politically inept Prime Minister trying to win “anti-woke” brownie points by cancelling a planned meeting with the Greek Prime Minister, and provoking a severe and damaging diplomatic row with a major European ally – a row over the fact that the Greek PM, in a pre-summit interview, reiterated the well-worn argument for the return of the sculptures which has been Greek government policy for over 40 years.

If the Parthenon debacle offers a graphic insight into Sunak’s capacity for poor judgment, though, it is only the tip of a very large iceberg of woes now assailing him. The UK Covid Inquiry is not going well for the Prime Minister, whose Eat Out To Help Out scheme, implemented in the summer of 2020 when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, has become something of a byword for the Johnson government’s failure, in the first year of the pandemic, to strike the right balance between Covid reduction measures and the promotion of economic activity.

Rishi Sunak appears to be politically inept as his attempt to win 'anti-woke' brownie points over the Elgin Marbles demonstrated (Picture: Justin Tallis/WPA pool/Getty Images)

Contrast with David Cameron’s authority

This week’s sky-high annual net immigration figure, running at almost 750,000, was also exceptionally bad news for a Prime Minister who has, perhaps unwisely, never hesitated to collude with the idea that “stopping the boats”, and achieving general reductions in migration, should be an overwhelming priority for the UK Government; too quick to reappoint Suella Braverman to government, he was also too slow to sack her for her irresponsible conduct in office.

If Sunak hoped, what is more, that his initial strong pro-Israel stance in the current Gaza crisis would help shore up electoral support at home, then it seems he will be disappointed. His new Foreign Secretary David Cameron – an authoritative figure compared with Sunak – is already rowing back rapidly towards a position that recognises some of the obvious demands of international law; and meanwhile in Scotland, the latest independence poll, published by Ipsos Mori, hints that the stance on Gaza shared by government and opposition at Westminster may have created an opportunity for the SNP to rebuild support, just as Alex Salmond’s opposition to the Iraq War did 20 years ago.

And finally, there is the grim state of the British economy, now haunted by levels of poverty and financial stress not seen in this country for decades. Sunak’s babbling support for Jeremy Hunt’s abysmal autumn statement, delivered last week, marks him out for posterity as just another Tory advocate of the tired 1980s’ economic orthodoxy that is now failing ordinary British citizens, leaving our public realm in squalor, and helping promote the devastation of the planet through climate change; and as such, he will doubtless, at the coming general election, be given short shrift by a nation tired of Tories.

Meanwhile, though, we are all condemned to wait until Sunak decides – some time before January 2025 – to exercise his Prime Ministerial prerogative by calling a general election. We can mischievously hope, 75 per cent of us, that he will exercise his usual quality of judgment in making that decision.

We should never forget, though, that while politics may often seem like a game to those who are well insulated from the consequences of policy, it is not a game to those suffering in cold homes this winter, struggling to put food on the table, or unable to find any affordable home at all; all of whom can hope for little relief so long as Sunak sits in Downing Street, fearing no one but the right-wing press, and exercising his power like a rich man from another planet, briefly made responsible for the reality of ordinary British lives, but baffled by the task – and privately, all too ready to move on.