Greek Prime Minister to 'push' British PM Rishi Sunak on Parthenon Sculptures

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to raise the contentious issue of the Parthenon Sculptures with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during his visit to the UK early next week, in an attempt to resolve a centuries-long feud over the historical artefacts.

The Greek PM  is reportedly due to hold talks with Labour leader Keir Starmer on Monday and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday where he will raise the subject with both of them. 

According to The Financial Times Mr Starmer was open to a potential loan deal that would see parts of the ancient sculptures returned.  A 1963 Act of Parliament stops the British Museum from permanently handing them back.

The Chair of the British Museum which holds the artefacts ,  has backed a loan deal and previously stated as much following secret talks with the Greek Prime Minister earlier this year.

“I hope we’ll find a way to partner with Greece so that a portion of the Marbles spend part of their time in Athens . . . and we see more of their treasures in return,” he wrote in The Spectator last week. Mr Osborne conceded that “we may well not succeed” but that it was “surely worth the effort”. said Osborne.