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Mr Sunak said his position on the sculptures is \u201ccrystal clear\u201d that they should remain in the UK.His remarks came after former Chancellor George Osborne had suggested the PM may have thrown a \u201chissy fit\u201d because his Greek counterpart met Sir Keir Starmer before him.<\/p>\n
Mr Osborne, who is chairman of the British Museum, speculated the snub could have been triggered because the Prime Minister objected to Kyriakos Mitsotakis holding talks with the Labour leader the day before he was due in Downing Street, rather than by a dispute over the Parthenon sculptures themselves.<\/p>\n
He also said he would continue to explore a potential \u201cexchange deal\u201d with Athens, regardless of whether Mr Sunak was willing to engage with the Greek premier.<\/p>\n
He said there was a \u201c50:50\u201d chance the Marbles would be loaned back to Greece. Speaking to journalists en-route to the COP28 climate summit in Dubai Mr Sunak denied he had acted petulantly.<\/p>\n
Asked if he had had a hissy fit the PM said: \u201cNo, no. I think I\u2019ve said everything I\u2019ve got to say on this in parliament the other day and now I\u2019m focused on delivering for people on the things they care about.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes to them our position is very clear as a matter of law the marbles can\u2019t be returned and we\u2019ve been unequivocal about that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think the British Museum\u2019s website itself says that in order for the loans to happen the recipient needs to acknowledge the lawful ownership of the country that\u2019s lending the things and I think the Greeks have not suggested that they are in any way shape or form willing to do that.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur view and our position on that is crystal clear: the marbles were acquired legally at the time.\u201d The long-running row over the rightful ownership of the sculptures escalated this week when Mr Sunak accused Mr Mitsotakis of acting in bad faith by publicly lobbying for their return during a trip to the UK.<\/p>\n
No 10 said the Greek leader\u2019s intervention broke a promise not to \u201cre-litigate\u201d the matter, prompting an angry denial from Athens, which accused Mr Sunak of playing electoral games.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Political Currency, the podcast he hosts with Ed Balls, Mr Osborne said he had heard \u201cvarious theories\u201d about the reasons for the flare up, with some speculating it was a \u201cdead cat strategy\u201d \u2013 a plan to distract from the Tory row over migration.
\u201cThen you ask the question, is it just petulance? Is it just having a bit of a hissy fit? And, I think if that\u2019s the reason it\u2019s not because Mitsotakis was going to raise the Elgin Marbles. It\u2019s because he had met Keir Starmer the day before,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n