A few hours after Amal Clooney departed from Athens and the amount of publicity she caused, two British MPs Andrew George and Jeremy Corbyn brought the issue of Parthenon Marbles to the British Parliament.
Protothema.gr publishes the document with the exact wording used on the matter of Parthenon Marbles in the British Parliament.
MP Andrew George: What is the policy on the UNESCO proposal for mediation with Greece on the Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum.
Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport Mrs Helen Grant: The government note that UNESCO stands ready to facilitate mediation discussions on the Parthenon marbles. We will consider the proposal and respond in due course. We are clear that the sculptures are legally owned by the British museum, which continues to provide access for all.
Andrew George: I am sure that if the UK is confident in its position, it will willingly engage with UNESCO in the offer of mediation. Although some might delude themselves on this matter, the fact is that parading stolen booty in the otherwise excellent British Museum brings shame on this country. Surely, the United Kingdom now needs to engage constructively and graciously recognize that the Parthenon sculptures should return to Greece.
Mrs Grant: We are engaging constructively. We will respond to the offer in due course. The suitability objectives and benefits of mediation need to be considered before that point, but i repeat that the sculptures are the property of the British museum, which provides access to all free of charge.
Jeremy Corbyn: Can the Minister be a bit more specific about when the constructive engagement will come to a conclusion? The point made was that those items were stolen from the people of Greece and there are very strong feelings in Greece about that. Perhaps our relationship with Greece would be improved if we constructively engaged with it with a view to returning some, if not all. of these items.
Mrs Grant: I do not accept that the items were stolen, but i assure the ho. Gentleman that there is constructive engagement between the UK and Greek Governments. The matter was discussed at the beginning of October at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
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