The Minister of Culture has so far made the strongest hints that the government may be ready to return the Parthenon sculptures on loan to Greece.
Michelle Donelan confirmed that she was in talks with George Osborne, chairman of the British Museum, about a possible deal with the Greek government, but has not yet seen the details of such an offer.
This is the first time the government is ready to hear about plans to allow the sculptures, known in the UK as the Elgin Marbles, to leave the museum and travel temporarily to Greece.
However, Ms Donelan insisted that she would not agree to a permanent return of the artifacts, telling broadcasters that they “belong to the UK” and that their return would “open a can of worms”.
This comes after reports emerged in Greece last month that Osborne, the former Conservative chancellor, was close to reaching an agreement with Greek authorities.
In conversation with news agents In the podcast, Ms. Donelan suggested that she would only lend the marble to Greece.
“Museums can’t bring them back forever, I totally agree,” she said.
“Many people talk about a 100-year loan, which, I think, is not at all in the spirit of the law, it is the same as giving. It’s almost like trying to find a gap around him. And this is certainly not what he had in mind in my conversations with George Osborne in the British Museum. He had several talks with the Greek government to see if there was anything else he could do.”
When asked if she could prevent the return of the marbles, she replied that she needed to see all the details of the proposed deal.
“We could change the law if we wanted to. It would be our privilege as a government to do so.
“First, I would like to review the terms of this deal in order to decide what its consequences will be. Because when we think about the Elgin marble, think about that too, but the implications are actually very far reaching in terms of our museums in the UK and the implications for other artefacts.
“So I would wait. And we’ll see if it actually happens. We’ll check.”
The British Museum is not legally allowed to return works of art such as marbles, but in recent weeks there have been more rumors about a possible deal where they would be loaned out on a rotating basis in exchange for Greek artifacts that never left the country.