The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has sparked an important debate by proposing that the Parthenon Marbles be shared between the British Museum and Greece.
In an interview, he expressed his desire to see these monuments in their natural environment and, according to the Telegraph, said he would like to see an agreement to “share” the sculptures with Greece.
Khan did not hesitate to point out the feasibility of such an agreement, describing Rishi Sunak’s behavior towards Kyriakos Mitsotakis as “deplorable”. He also expressed the intention of an incoming Labor government to work with Greece on such a settlement, and praised the willingness of former Tory chancellor George Osborne to reach an agreement.
Stressing the importance of returning the marbles to Greece, Khan expressed his belief that the British government should recognise the times we live in, despite the restrictions imposed by the British Museum Act 1963 on the disposal of its collection.
“I think the British Museum, the British government and the Greek government should be able to come to an agreement. The three parties involved are led by reasonable people and generally speaking, when it comes to reasonable things, it should be possible to come to an agreement,” he concluded.
