British museums told to resist demands to return 'looted' treasures like Elgin Marbles

Britain should resist demands to return "looted" treasures such as the Benin Bronzes or the Elgin Marbles according to the former head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. In a paper published today, Sir Trevor Phillips called on the Government to provide guidance to help museums decide when to hand over historic exhibits and when to refuse.

He said: "Recent years have seen an increasing call for British museums to return artefacts taken from other countries, often under circumstances of disputed legality. For some, this is a simple matter of right and wrong. Yet the truth is rarely as simple." Greece has demanded the Elgin Marbles, a collection of sculptures from the Parthenon and other structures from the Acropolis of Athens, most of which were created in the 5th century BC and are held in the British museum in London.

Nigeria has also demanded that the British Museum hand over Benin Bronzes, metal plaques and sculptures that decorated the royal palace of what was then the Kingdom of Benin.

Campaigners in the UK have backed calls for the items to be returned but in a paper for think tank Policy Exchange, written jointly with Senior Research Fellow Lara Brown, Sir Trevor argues that claims for restitution "vary greatly in legitimacy".

He said: "Take the case of the Benin Bronzes, taken to Britain in the late 19th century following a punitive expedition. And yet, the people of Benin obtained the brass for many of these artefacts by trading with Portuguese merchants in exchange for chattel slaves."

Nigeria has said the bronzes will be given to the Oba of Benin, a descendant of the kingdom's former rulers. But Sir Trevor asked: "Are more people who have a meaningful connection to the Bronzes - including the global West African diaspora - more likely to have the opportunity to see the Bronzes in British museums, or in the Oba of Benin's private collection?

"The case for returning them is weak. Yet in other cases, such as religious artefacts still venerated by the indigenous community who created them, the case for return may be much stronger."

The paper also stated: "The longer that an artefact has resided in a British museum, the more cultural significance it is likely to have to Britain. The Elgin Marbles, for example, have resided in London for two centuries, in which time they've been written about, argued over, painted, and adored - in the process, causing them to become of cultural significance to the UK."

The paper is part of Policy Exchange's History Matters project chaired by Sir Trevor, a broadcaster and former Labour politician,

Historian Andrew Roberts said: "It is paramount that our institutions are guided by historical evidence and due process rather than by contemporary politicised fashions and I urge all museum stewards and parliamentarians alike to absorb the great lessons contained within this Policy Exchange paper - whether they are considering claims for restitution or debating the subject in Parliament."

Former Tory MP Tim Loughton also welcomed the paper, saying: "One of the most practical challenges is how to deal with the tangible objects representing that past both indigenous and from other cultures and jurisdictions. In recent years this space has become nothing short of a battleground as competing ideologies and interests."