Elgin Marbles: New body aims to return sculptures to Greece

A erstwhile Conservative civilization curate volition seat a caller assemblage aiming to instrumentality the alleged Elgin Marbles to Greece, the BBC tin reveal.

Lord Vaizey, civilization curate from 2010-2016, says helium is assured "a woody is wrong reach".

On Thursday, the House of Lords volition statement an enactment which restricts museums from disposing of objects successful their collections.

The authorities said it had nary volition of changing the law.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said: "The British Museum is prevented by instrumentality from removing objects from its collections, but successful immoderate constrictive circumstances. The authorities has nary plans to alteration this act."

The Elgin Marbles are presently housed successful the British Museum.

In a statement, the depository said: "We volition indebtedness the sculptures, arsenic we bash galore different objects, to those who privation to show them to the nationalist astir the world, provided they volition look aft them and instrumentality them.

"Deepening nationalist entree and understanding, creating caller ways and opportunities for collections to beryllium shared and understood close crossed the world, and forging connections betwixt the contiguous and the past, stay astatine the halfway of what the British Museum seeks to achieve," they added.

Asked precocious astir a imaginable woody that could pb to the instrumentality of the sculptures to Athens, Prime Minister Liz Truss said: "I don't enactment that."

The destiny of the Parthenon Sculptures, arsenic they are much often becoming known, is the astir precocious illustration successful the hotly contested statement astir whether museums should instrumentality items successful their collections to their countries of origin.

For years, Greece has lobbied to bring the sculptures home. They were removed from Greece's Parthenon temple successful the aboriginal 19th Century by the Scottish worker and diplomat, Lord Elgin.

The British Museum has ever said that lone the authorities tin determine their fate, though the authorities says the "collections are a substance for the trustees".

Now an advisory assemblage plans to run for a "win-win" woody arsenic a canvass shared exclusively with the BBC appears to amusement the bulk of British radical enactment sending the Marbles home.

Lord Vaizey is joined by different founding members connected the advisory committee of the Parthenon Project, an organisation founded by the Greek businessman John Lefas.

The committee besides includes 2 different Conservative peers, the renowned writer Lord Dobbs and Baroness Meyer. They're joined by Stephen Fry and the writer Sarah Baxter.

The erstwhile Conservative Chancellor, George Osborne, present president of the British Museum, said earlier this twelvemonth a "deal is to beryllium done", though the existent Conservative medication appears little keen.

A canvass of astir 2,000 people, commissioned by the Parthenon Project, suggests portion 16% of the British nationalist deliberation the Parthenon Sculptures should enactment successful Britain, 54% deliberation they should beryllium returned.

The strongest crushed for supporting the instrumentality was due to the fact that they "rightfully beryllium to Greece".

The Parthenon Project points to a breakdown of the canvass which shows, amongst radical who voted Conservative successful 2019, 44% thought the sculptures should spell to Greece and 28% didn't caput either way.

Lord Vaizey, caller Parthenon Project chair, said: "I americium assured that a woody is wrong reach. Support for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures successful Athens from the public, and successful peculiar Conservative leaning voters, is clear."

He added it would beryllium "in the champion interests of the British Museum and UK authorities to statesman meaningful engagement connected this issue".

On Thursday, Lord Vaizey volition punctual a statement successful the House of Lords astir the National Heritage Act.

With increasing calls from immoderate quarters to instrumentality items held successful British collections to their archetypal countries of origin, immoderate museums, including the V&A, chaired Tristram Hunt, person called for the enactment to beryllium amended oregon replaced.

The British Museum says it is restricted from returning items from its collection, including the Benin Bronzes from Nigeria, by different act, the British Museum Act of 1963. It has akin presumption to the Heritage Act.

Other smaller museums aren't bound by the aforesaid restrictions. London's Horniman Museum precocious announced it was returning its postulation of Benin Bronzes. These items were looted by British forces successful the precocious 19th Century.

Glasgow Museums has besides agreed to instrumentality 7 stolen artefacts to India.

The Parthenon Project believes a taste speech is simply a solution to the stalemate implicit the Elgin Marbles.

Fry said helium was "delighted" to beryllium supporting the Parthenon Project, adding: "I firmly judge that we present person a existent accidental to find a solution that benefits some Britain and Greece. It is clip to enactment our energies into an speech involving a revolving postulation of never-seen-in-London earlier artefacts populating the Duveen Gallery successful the British Museum, whilst the sculptures are returned to Greece."

Previously, the British Museum has argued that the sculptures successful their postulation should "remain successful London due to the fact that there's obscurity to location them successful Greece and that the Greek authorities can't look aft them".