Greek PM urges Burnham to return Elgin Marbles permanently

The Greek prime minister has called on Andy Burnham to find the "political will" to send the Parthenon sculptures back to Greece.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote in the Guardian that returning the classical treasures, also known as the Elgin Marbles in the UK, would "send a powerful signal" but would require "courage".

The sculptures have been on display in the British Museum since the 19th Century, though Greece has long disputed the legality of their removal.

Mitsotakis and his government have previously held talks with the British Museum about the sculptures, but the two have so far failed to reach an agreement, with Greek authorities seeking their permanent return.

The Greek PM used the recent fanfare generated by the loan of the Bayeux Tapestry to the British Museum to restate his country's claim to the Elgin Marbles.

"Nobody would seriously contemplate cutting what survives of the tapestry in two and displaying half in London and half in Bayeux, and claiming this was an adequate way to understand it," he wrote on Thursday , external .

"Yet that is exactly what happened to the Parthenon sculptures."

His comments come after British Museum director Nicholas Cullinan suggested that the recent arrangement struck between the UK and France, after decades of rejected requests to borrow the medieval embroidery, offered hope of a deal with Greece over the Elgin Marbles.