Only 11% of Brits believe that Greece would return the Elgin Marbles after loan, new report claims
20 March 2023, 16:30 | Updated: 28 November 2023, 10:30
Only 11% of Brits believe that Greece would return the Elgin Marbles to the UK after a proposed long-term loan, a new report from an Oxford historian has claimed.
The controversial sculptures currently belong to the British Museum but Athens has been trying to return them to Greece for decades.
Sir Noel Malcolm, a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, has written a report for the Policy Exchange think-tank which include a survey of the British public which suggest than only around one-in-ten Britons trust Athens to return the vaunted collection after a loan period.
Sir Noel wrote: “The Elgin Marbles are the Crown Jewels of the British Museum, a national museum with a universal mission.
"We should feel proud of our ability to show them to the world in London.
“There is nothing to apologise for here.”
The Marbles are not legally allowed to leave the British Museum except through loan under the British Museums Act but calls for the works to be returned have grown in recent years.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterated that he will not change this law recently, which Sir Noel supported in his report.
The sculptures were acquired by Lord Elgin with the permission of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1800s but campaigners claim this permission was illegitimate.
The 50-page report examines the dispute over the antiquities and presents arguments for and against the repatriation of the stones.
Read More: Elgin Marbles will not return permanently to Greece, Rishi Sunak vows as he rules out law change
Read More: 'They are coming home': Greek official claims Elgin Marbles will return to Athens by end of year
The proposed long-term loan would include Greek antiquities being loaned to the British Museum - an agreement which Malcom called "mutual hostage-taking".
The Parthenon Marbles are more than 2,500-year-old sculptures which were sold to the British government in 1816.
Greece formally requested the Marbles' return in the early-1980s, with calls for the artefacts' repatriation becoming louder in subsequent decades.
