IT would be "neither feasible nor sensible" to return the Parthenon Marbles to Greece, the British government insisted yesterday.
The deputy chief whip in the House of Lords, Lord McIntosh of Haringey, said the government had "no plans" to reconsider the decision of the National Heritage Secretary, Mr Chris Smith, on the question. Mr Smith has said the sculptures should remain at the British Museum.
Lord McIntosh told a former Labour arts minister, Lord Jenkins of Putney: "Of course we acknowledge that there is a strong emotional case for the return of the Elgin Marbles."
However, he added: "But we recognise that it would neither be feasible to return them - because they are the property of the British Museum and it would require confiscatory legislation to take it away from them - nor sensible, because the whole issue of the return of works of art to their countries of origin is very much wider than the Elgin Marbles themselves."
Lord Jenkins, urging the return of the marbles to Athens, commented: "We are a lone curmudgeon in this thing, and it's about time we put it right because our international reputation is at stake."