There are several reasons why Britain’s new Labour administration may be closer to agreeing a loan of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece than the previous Conservative government, even though a full transfer of ownership remains firmly off the agenda.

This week, Britain’s prime minister Sir Keir Starmer will meet with Greece’s prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. But the reception awaiting Mitsotakis is bound to be more welcoming than the last time he met with Britain’s premier. That was in November last year when a petulant Rishi Sunak cancelled a face to face meeting with Mitsotakis at the last minute.

Apparently, Sunak didn’t take kindly to the case made by Greece’s premier on BBC TV for transferring the Marbles to Athens on reunification grounds.

By contrast, Starmer is focussed on Britain's post-Brexit relations with Greece, which means resolving a number of pressing trade and diplomatic issues. Discussions are likely to focus on current UK-EU relations, Greece’s non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council and trade arrangements between the two countries. But this time, officials also believe a discussion about a loan of some of the Parthenon sculptures or reliefs is bound to come up. Significantly, Downing Street officials were briefing last week that Starmer is open to a possible loan deal.

“We are open to whatever is agreed,” said one official close to Starmer. “It’s right to say there is no strong view on what should happen.”

As we’ve reported before, the shape of a potential loan arrangement has been under discussion for some time. It’s understood George Osborne, the chair of the British Museum who has held discussions with Mitsotakis about the Marbles, has already spoken of these arrangements to Labour’s new Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy. These arrangements involve a loan of sculptures or reliefs in exchange for a series of rotating loan exhibitions of major Greek ‘trophy’ objects.

There is also talk of a softening of attitude towards this arrangement by some of the Museum’s trustees. Not before time, we say.

But while there is still no talk of amending the legislation to effect a full transfer of ownership (British Museum Act 1963) - something the Greeks have always maintained is a priority for discussions to succeed - there are other reasons why both sides may wish to park the ‘ownership’ issue and focus attention on the terms of a loan arrangement. At least, for now.

The first stage of the British Museum's long overdue plans to repair, restore and renovate the Museum’s gallery spaces might be starting as early as next year with work commencing on the "Western Range". Despite the eye-watering price attached to this vast project (rumoured to be costing around £1 billion), the Museum’s new Director, Nicholas Cullinan, speaking on a recent podcast for The Art Newspaper, has not shied away from expressing his intention to meet this challenge. And he has form, having already completed a major museum renovation at London’s National Portrait Gallery while formally serving there as Museum Director.

This first stage of renovation includes the Duveen Gallery, which houses the Museum’s collection of sculptures from the Parthenon and the Acropolis. It leaks profusely.

So, where should the collection be stored while the gallery spaces are being rebuilt? The government maintain the British Museum is responsible for decisions regarding the Marbles, so will the Museum's trustees step up and agree a temporary loan of sculptures or reliefs to the Acropolis Museum in Athens? As the majority of the Museum's trustees are appointed by government, it's quite likely that any expression of willingness to loan the Marbles by Starmer might well trickle down to a positive decision by trustees in Bloomsbury.

However, could this preface any longer term arrangement between the two countries? The next few weeks might provide a clue how the world’s longest running restitution dispute is evolving.

Photo: The Duveen Gallery at the British Museum