Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has urged UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham to show the “political will” to return the Parthenon sculptures permanently to Greece. He said reunifying the sculptures would send a powerful signal and turn a long-running cultural dispute into an act of friendship.

The sculptures, removed from Athens in the early 19th Century under permission granted by the Ottoman authorities, have been held by the British Museum since 1816. Greece rejects loan arrangements that imply British ownership, while the museum and UK government say the law prevents permanent returns, although campaigners argue it could be amended; Mitsotakis also dismissed comparisons with the recent loan of the Bayeux Tapestry.