UK won’t return Elgin marbles to Greece, says Rishi Sunak

Collection at the British Museum is protected by law

The UK will not return the Elgin marbles to Greece, Rishi Sunak has confirmed.

In a bid to protect the “huge asset” to the UK, Mr Sunak honoured the commitments made by former prime ministers Liz Truss and Boris Johnson to retain ownership of the collection, currently kept at the British Museum in London.

The Elgin marbles are a collection of sculptures that originally accompanied the Parthenon – and other structures inside the Acropolis of Athens – in Greece. The marbles were taken during the Ottoman Empire by Thomas Bruce, 7^th Earl of Elgin, and have been held in the British Museum since 1832.