Negotiations between the British Museum and Greece over the future of the Elgin Marbles have reportedly collapsed, more than a year after the Great British PAC assembled a cross-party coalition of parliamentarians, lawyers, historians, academics and public figures to demand an end to secretive plans to remove the sculptures from Britain.
The Elgin Marbles are staying in Britain — for now.
Talks between the British Museum and Greece over the future of the Parthenon Sculptures have effectively collapsed, according to an exclusive report by The Telegraph.
Athens reopened negotiations with the Museum in 2021 in an attempt to secure the return of the ancient sculptures, which have been in Britain for more than two centuries.
But according to The Telegraph, regular contact has now stopped. A source told the newspaper there are “no talks” taking place and indicated that discussions are unlikely to resume, although channels of communication remain open.
At the heart of the breakdown is the issue which has always threatened to make a deal impossible: ownership.
The British Museum was prepared to discuss a long-term loan. Greece wants the sculptures permanently and rejects the Museum’s claim to legal ownership.
Under the British Museum Act 1963, objects vested in the trustees as part of the Museum’s collection generally cannot be disposed of except under specified statutory provisions. The Act separately gives trustees the power to lend collection objects for public exhibition, including overseas.
It is precisely this distinction between a genuine loan and what could become a permanent handover that the Great British PAC has spent more than a year warning about.
GB PAC put the British Museum and Government on notice
In July 2025, the Great British PAC and archaeologist Dr Mario Trabucco della Torretta assembled a powerful cross-party coalition of more than 30 parliamentarians, peers, lawyers, academics, historians and public figures to oppose plans which could have resulted in the Marbles leaving Britain.
The letter was sent directly to the Trustees of the British Museum, the Culture Secretary and the Prime Minister.
Signatories included former Prime Minister Liz Truss, Lord Hannan of Kingsclere, Lord Biggar of Castle Douglas, Lord Moylan, Lord Greenhalgh, Sir John Redwood, Sir William Cash, former MP Tim Loughton, Professor Lawrence Goldman, Professor Daniel Hobbins, Professor Robert Tombs, historian Dr David Starkey, Martin Howe KC, James Tumbridge and Great British PAC chairman Ben Habib.
Its message could hardly have been clearer:
“We will not stand by while that future is gambled away.”
The intervention was not simply a statement that the signatories wanted the Marbles to remain in London.
It challenged the entire manner in which the proposed deal was being pursued.
The coalition raised concerns about the lack of public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny, questioned the influence of political lobbying and foreign interests, including the foreign-funded Parthenon Project, and warned of the precedent which could be established for collections in museums across Britain.
It also raised serious questions about the legal and fiduciary responsibilities of British Museum trustees.
The letter declared:
“The British Museum is not a private foundation. Its trustees cannot act as philosopher-kings, rewriting history and the law in pursuit of fashionable redemption.”
The British Museum Act matters because Parliament deliberately restricted the circumstances in which objects can be disposed of while separately allowing genuine loans.
Indeed, the British Museum itself has previously said that it operates within the law and would not “dismantle our great collection”, while simultaneously seeking a partnership with Greece.
The concern raised by the Great British PAC was that a creative or supposedly temporary arrangement must not become a means of achieving indirectly what the law prevents the trustees from doing directly: permanently giving away part of the national collection.
We were prepared to go to court
The Great British PAC intervention went further still.
It called for an immediate suspension of negotiations, a formal public inquiry, an independent legal review and a reaffirmation of the Museum trustees’ obligations to the public.
And it put those involved on notice that the matter could ultimately end up before the courts.
The letter stated that legal advice could be sought on protecting the interests of the British public, including potentially pursuing an injunction to halt negotiations while the implications of any proposed agreement were examined.
The PAC’s argument was simple: something as important as the future of the Elgin Marbles should not be decided by a small number of people negotiating privately with a foreign government.
There had been no national consultation and no specific parliamentary mandate to permanently remove the sculptures.
And the implications extended far beyond one room of the British Museum.
As the letter warned:
“This is not just about the Elgin Marbles. It is about the future of every object in every museum in Britain.”
More than a year later, The Telegraph now reports that the negotiations GB PAC demanded should be halted have effectively collapsed.
Britain preserved the Marbles for the world
There is another part of this story which is too often overlooked.
When Lord Elgin’s agents removed the sculptures in the early 19th century, the Parthenon was not the pristine monument familiar from modern photographs.
It had endured centuries of upheaval. It had been used as a church, a mosque and an ammunition store. In 1687, Venetian artillery struck the Parthenon while it was being used to store gunpowder, causing a devastating explosion and enormous damage to the ancient structure. The British Museum’s own educational history records this destruction.
Between 1801 and 1805, Elgin removed sculptures both from the building and from fallen ruins. The British state subsequently acquired his collection in 1816 and the sculptures entered the British Museum.
Greece disputes the legitimacy of their removal, and that historical argument continues.
But supporters of retaining the sculptures in Britain make another important argument: their British history matters too.
For more than 200 years, Britain has preserved, conserved, studied and displayed them.
They survived two world wars. They survived the Blitz. Generations of historians, archaeologists, artists and schoolchildren have studied them, while millions of people from around the world have been able to stand in front of them.
They are not hidden in a private collection.
They are displayed in one of the world’s great universal museums, free for the world to see.
That matters.
“The Marbles survived because they came to Britain”
Historian Dr David Starkey, one of the leading supporters of the Great British PAC intervention, has argued that the removal of the sculptures to Britain helped preserve them and dramatically expanded knowledge of ancient Greek art.
He said:
“Before Lord Elgin brought them to London, knowledge of the sculptures’ appearance depended on a handful of engravings. Their arrival in Britain ignited a wave of neoclassical inspiration — from Buckingham Palace to the British Museum itself. To suggest they belong only to one country is to ignore the very cultural exchange that gave them meaning and preserved them.”
His argument was more direct still: “the Marbles survived because they came to Britain.”
Dr Mario Trabucco della Torretta similarly argued that concentrating exclusively on the sculptures’ creation in ancient Greece ignores the subsequent two centuries of their cultural history.
He said:
“We understand the Greek attachment to these sculptures, but this focuses solely on the moment of their creation, neglecting to tell a much richer cultural story.”
He argued that their acquisition and conservation had profound effects on British culture and formed part of the identity of Britain and the wider Western world.
A British achievement worth defending
The Great British PAC believes Britain should be proud of its stewardship rather than endlessly apologising for it.
A child from Birmingham, a family from Athens, a student from America or a visitor from Japan can come to London and encounter these extraordinary survivors of the ancient world as part of a collection telling thousands of years of human history.
And they can see them without paying a penny to enter the British Museum.
The argument for keeping the Marbles in Britain is not an argument that ancient Greek civilisation somehow ceases to be Greek, nor does it require dismissing the genuine importance Greece attaches to the sculptures.
It is an argument that two centuries of British history matter as well.
Britain preserved them. British scholars studied them. Their presence helped influence British art, scholarship and architecture. Britain placed them within a universal collection and made them available to visitors from every nation.
Their life in London has itself become part of their history.
And there is a wider principle at stake.
If modern political demands are allowed to dismantle universal museum collections according to the borders of modern nation states, the consequences will not stop with the Parthenon sculptures.
That is why GB PAC’s original letter warned that this was about “the future of every object in every museum in Britain.”
George Osborne believed there was a deal to be done
The apparent collapse is particularly significant because British Museum chairman and former chancellor George Osborne had spent years pursuing an agreement.
In 2023, Mr Osborne said publicly that he hoped for an arrangement which would allow the sculptures to be seen in both Athens and London, alongside Greek treasures displayed at the British Museum. Significantly, he said the trustees wanted a partnership that required neither side to relinquish its claims and required no changes to the law.
According to The Telegraph’s latest report, various formulations were subsequently explored, including Greece sending a rotating selection of ancient artefacts to Britain.
But ultimately the fundamental disagreement could not be wished away.
The Museum could contemplate lending the Marbles.
Greece wanted their permanent return.
And Greece would not accept the Museum’s ownership as the basis for a conventional loan.
Claire Bullivant: “Britain should be proud”
Great British PAC CEO Claire Bullivant said:
“If these talks really have collapsed, that is extremely welcome news for everyone who has fought to keep the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum.
“For more than a year, the Great British PAC has worked both publicly and behind the scenes to make absolutely clear that these sculptures cannot simply be spirited out of Britain through a clever diplomatic arrangement negotiated without the British public having a meaningful say.
“We assembled parliamentarians, peers, historians, academics, lawyers and public figures. We wrote directly to the British Museum, the Government and the Prime Minister. We demanded transparency and proper scrutiny, and we made clear that we were prepared to explore legal action if an unlawful permanent handover was attempted.
“The law matters. Parliament matters. The British public matters. The British Museum is not the private property of its chairman or trustees, and its collection must not be treated as diplomatic currency.
“And Britain should be proud of what it has done for these extraordinary sculptures. They came to this country more than two centuries ago after the Parthenon had already suffered terrible destruction. Generations in Britain have preserved them, conserved them, studied them and shared them freely with millions upon millions of people from across the world.
“Greece’s attachment to the Parthenon sculptures is entirely understandable, but Britain’s stewardship is part of their history too. We should not erase two centuries of that history because apologising for Britain’s past has become fashionable.
“Today they remain safe, protected and freely accessible in one of the greatest museums on earth. That is something Britain should celebrate, not apologise for.
“The reported collapse of these negotiations is an important moment, but we will not be complacent. The channels apparently remain open. If another attempt is made to engineer a permanent departure through the back door, the Great British PAC will be ready.”
The fight may not be over
The breakdown does not settle the centuries-old dispute.
Greece continues to maintain that the surviving Parthenon sculptures should be reunited in Athens and disputes Britain’s account of the circumstances under which Elgin obtained them.
Nor does the reported breakdown necessarily mean discussions can never restart.
But something important has happened.
A deal which at various points appeared to be moving closer has, according to The Telegraph, stalled because the central question could not be fudged indefinitely.
A loan means the sculptures come back. Greece wants them permanently. Britain has laws protecting its national collection.
The Great British PAC entered this battle while those negotiations were still active.
We brought together a formidable cross-party coalition. We demanded transparency. We raised questions about lobbying and foreign influence. We challenged the lack of parliamentary and public scrutiny. We raised the trustees’ legal and fiduciary responsibilities. We called for an independent legal review and public inquiry. And we put those involved on notice that legal action could be considered if necessary.
We did so because this was never only about marble.
It was about who gets to decide the fate of Britain’s national collections.
For now, the answer is clear.
The Elgin Marbles are still here.
Britain preserved them. Britain has shared them with the world. They remain safe, protected and free for the world to see.
And the Great British PAC will continue fighting to keep them that way.
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