British peers have challenged the UK government’s position on the Parthenon Sculptures, with one Labour peer comparing their removal from Greece to the theft of the Crown Jewels.
During a House of Lords debate on November 3, several peers called for the sculptures’ reunification with the Parthenon. The government, however, reiterated that it has no plans to change the law to allow their permanent return to Greece.
The debate followed a question from the Earl of Clancarty, who asked what assessment the government had made of proposals for permanent restitution. Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Baroness Twycross said the government had made no such assessment but welcomed discussions between the British Museum and Greek ministers.
‘If the Crown Jewels had been pinched’
Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti questioned whether a loan could resolve the dispute.
“If some of the crown jewels had been pinched, we would not be so glad of a loan agreement,” she told the House. She also asked whether the British Museum Act 1963 could be amended to allow greater flexibility over the sculptures’ return.
The Earl of Clancarty focused on the artistic unity of the Parthenon, comparing the separation of its sculptures to cutting up a famous painting.
“If, for example, Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ were to be cut into pieces and displayed in different museums, there would be an almighty clamour to get those pieces reunited,” he said. “Should not the same consideration be given to Phidias’s masterwork?”
Twycross replied that the government had no plans to change the 1963 Act or introduce legislation allowing permanent restitution. She stressed that museums operate independently of the government and that the British Museum was exploring possible arrangements with Greece.
The legal obstacle and the Bayeux Tapestry
The British Museum Act 1963 generally prevents the museum from disposing of items in its collection, subject to limited exceptions. The government says it has no plans to amend the law to permit the sculptures’ permanent return. Twycross also pointed to a separate review of Sections 15 and 16 of the Charities Act 2022. The review is expected to report in February 2027.
The minister said the British Museum would consider a loan only if Greece acknowledged the museum’s ownership and provided a binding commitment to return the sculptures. She confirmed that no agreement with Greece was currently in place.
The Bayeux Tapestry emerged as a possible model for a loan arrangement. Twycross said the museum’s director had referred to its loan as a potential example. However, the two cases are not equivalent: the tapestry is being loaned to Britain, while the Parthenon Sculptures remain at the center of an unresolved ownership dispute.
During the exchange, crossbench peer Lord Ricketts asked whether the government intended to return the tapestry permanently to France after its UK exhibition. Twycross emphatically rejected the suggestion that Britain intended to keep it, saying, “It would be over my dead body.”
Peers divided over the Parthenon sculptures’ return
Not all peers supported restitution. Conservative Viscount Hailsham warned that returning the sculptures would set “a most unfortunate precedent,” arguing that British museums hold many objects acquired abroad under circumstances that remain open to question.
Other peers strongly supported Greece’s position. Green peer Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb, a former archaeologist, noted that the sculptures had been acquired from the Ottoman Empire rather than the Greek state. She also recalled seeing empty spaces on the Parthenon where the sculptures would fit.
Liberal Democrat Baroness Hussein-Ece highlighted Greece’s decades-long campaign for their return and the role of the Acropolis Museum, built near the Parthenon. She suggested that restitution could also allow the British Museum to display other objects currently held in storage.
Labour peer Lord Dubs likewise questioned whether the existing law allowed the sculptures’ return or whether new legislation would be necessary. The government maintained that it had no plans to change the law.
The debate revealed support for reunification across party lines in the House of Lords, but no immediate path to permanent restitution. The British Museum’s conditions for a loan remain a central obstacle, while the UK government continues to favor discussions within the existing legal framework.
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