Sadiq Khan has called on the government to find a way of sharing the Elgin Marbles with Greece.

The Mayor of London has said he agrees with the former chancellor George Osborne on the fate of the artefacts.

Mr Osborne, who is chairman of the trustees of the British Museum, recently said the organisation should find a way of sharing the ancient sculptures.

The marbles, which were removed from the Acropolis in Athens more than 200-years ago, have long been controversial.

They were once in the ancient Greek Parthenon temple but around half were brought to Britain in the early 19th century by staff working for Thomas Bruce, the Earl of Elgin.

Lord Elgin was the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799-1803, which occupied Greece from 1458 -1820s.

The British Museum says he acquired the artefacts legally and had permission to take them after being given a permit by Ottoman leaders.

But Greece disagrees, considers them stolen and has repeatedly demanded they be returned to Athens.

Mr Khan said agreeing on the fate of the marbles with Mr Osborne was ‘probably the end of my career’.

‘I think it’s important to have these discussions,’ he told Huff Post.

‘I think generally speaking discussion is always good and dialogue is always good and it’s refreshing to hear the British Museum talking in this way.

‘I’d really encourage the British Museum, the British government and the government of Greece and the relevant appropriate place – the museum in Athens – to talk about how we can make progress on this issue.’

Mr Kahn said what should happen to the marbles was part of a wider discussion over how certain artefacts were collected and where they should be on display.

‘I want them to stay in our city, but why can’t we share them?,’ Mr Khan added.

‘Why can’t we work with other cities across the globe to have a situation where people, who can’t come to London, can’t enjoy the wonderful British Museum, can enjoy seeing some of this stuff in other places as well?’

Mr Khan’s comments come as public institutions, including the British Museum, are coming under increasing pressure to reevaluate their collections.

In October, it was announced a bronze statue which was looted from Nigeria in the 19th century before being given to Cambridge University would be returned home.

The statue was stolen by British colonial forces in 1897 and gifted to Jesus College in 1905.

It was removed from public display in 2016 while its ‘historical, legal and moral status’ was established with an investigation finding it ‘belongs with the current Oba at the Court of Benin’.

Meanwhile Germany recently returned two Benin bronzes, considered to be among some of Africa’s most important artefacts to Nigeria.

It has also put more than 1,000 other items from its museums’ collections back into the Nigeria’s ownership.

The British Museum holds a large collection of Benin Bronzes and is also under pressure to return the artefacts.

Mr Khan said the UK should take lessons from Germany and other countries.

‘There’s no reason at all why we can’t show the strength of our friendship with other countries, whether it’s Greece or what Germany has done to share some of this stuff,’ he told Huff Post.

‘We’ve treated it as a virility test, we equate it wrongly, in my view, with patriotism and it gets confused with nationalism.

‘This sort of progressive conversation is what’s needed and I welcome George beginning the conversation. That’s the end of my career.’

Source: metro.co.uk