Plot to send Elgin Marbles back to Greece in Olympics charm offensive emerges

29 December 2023 , 00:01

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Greece has been demanding the return of the Elgin Marbles for decades (Image: PA)

Former PM Tony Blair was in favour of returning the Elgin Marbles to Greece in a charm offensive to boost London's bid to host the Olympic Games, it has emerged.

Papers released by the National Archives show his advisers believed the 2,500 year old statues could be a "powerful bargaining chip" to secure the 2012 contest. And the Labour leader suggested a peer could be trusted to negotiate a sharing agreement.

The marbles were last month at the heart of a huge diplomatic row between the UK and Greece when Rishi Sunak cancelled a meeting with his counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis. It has now emerged that two decades ago Mr Blair supported a possible deal that would have seen them shared by the UK and Greece.

The plan, put forward by former Foreign Secretary Lord Owen, was said to have "real legs", files show. But British Museum chiefs feared that the Greek government wouldn't stick to their side of the deal and allow the sculptures back into London, it is claimed.

Lord Owen wrote in a memo to the Cabinet Office: "It would not be difficult to get the Greeks to put their support behind a London bid for 2012 as a quid pro quo (for agreement on the Marbles), given that Paris is competing and the Greeks might normally go for the French." He warned that if nothing was done, the Greeks would seek to "manipulate" the issue when their games took place in 2004.

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In a handwritten note, Mr Blair suggested Lord Owen could be trusted with negotiations with Greece. He wrote: "He has clout and could probably help with the BM while distancing it a little from government."

Athens has long demanded the return of the historic works which were removed by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century when he was the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. A memo from No10 culture media and sport advisor Sarah Hunter said there were good reasons for the UK to "change tack" on the controversy over the marbles. She wrote: "The Marbles could be a powerful bargaining chip in IOC (International Olympic Committee) vote building for a 2012 Olympic bid.

"The publicity attached to this move could secure the Greek nomination and help garner a wide range of other IOC votes."

But she warned the British Museum would be suspicious of a shared ownership deal, stating: "There is much suspicion within the (British Museum) about the Greeks' motives: the trustees and the director remain firmly of the view that, once the Marbles are back on Greek soil, the government will pay any price to retain them there, leaving the British Museum with a hole at the centre of their collection."

Newly-released files contain no evidence that Lord Owen was contacted by No10, and the proposal came to nothing. The documents were made public weeks after Mr Sunak sparked anger when he cancelled a meeting with Mr Mitsotakis in London. The decision came after the Greek PM mentioned the sculptures in a TV interview.

The PM’s spokesman was forced to deny Mr Sunak was “thin skinned” - and said it would "not be productive" to hold a meeting with the Greek leader after a promise not to use the visit to focus on the Marbles was "not adhered to".

Dave Burke