Rejected petition Permanently return the Parthenon Sculptures (Elgin Marbles) to Greece.

Rejected on 15 December 2023

Amend the law to allow the Parthenon Sculptures to be permanently returned to the Greek people.

The Parthenon is the most significant and sacred of all monuments in Greece and a global cultural symbol. It is now actively preserved, and the state-of-the-art Acropolis Museum is nearby. There is no reason for the UK to retain these sculptures which the Greek government and people fervently wish to be returned. In fact, this obduracy reflects badly on the UK as a progressive, modern and collaborative nation. We should do the right thing and return the sculptures back to the Greek people.

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.

The UK Government is not directly responsible for the Elgin Marbles, but we have published the following petition, which you might like to sign:

Amend the British Museum Act to allow the acceptance of repatriation requests: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/642081

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.