Parthenon Sculptures
Debate between Baroness Hussein-Ece and Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent(2 days, 23 hours ago)
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Captain of the King’s Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard and Deputy Chief Whip (Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent) (Lab)
My Lords, based on numbers so far, it is the turn of the Lib Dems.
Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)
My Lords, the Greek Government have been trying to negotiate the return of the Parthenon marbles for decades, and we need to acknowledge that they are an integral part of Greece’s cultural heritage. A museum has been purpose-built near the site of the Parthenon where the sculptures were originally displayed for 2,000 years. The noble Lord on the Conservative Benches put his finger on it: the British Museum is stuffed full of artefacts from around the world. In fact, I understand that there is much that is not displayed in the basements and vaults. Maybe it would be an opportunity to bring some of those artefacts out if the museum returned the Parthenon marbles to Greece.
Middle East
Debate between Baroness Hussein-Ece and Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent(1 year ago)
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Baroness in Waiting/Government Whip (Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent)
My Lords, there is time for both noble Lords to speak, so we will go to the Liberal Democrats and then to our colleague from the Cross Benches.
Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)
My Lords, I am president of Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine. I absolutely accept what the Leader of the House just said about Hamas. It is coming up a lot that Hamas has no place in any future governance of a free and independent Palestine. I think everyone agrees on that. The tributes to the Arab and Muslim countries, which have been vital and instrumental in bringing this about, have been very well placed. I am particularly pleased that Turkey’s President Erdoğan has played such a key role, as was emphasised by President Trump, to put pressure on Hamas to agree to this deal and to all the conditions on it to disarm.
We are now in a very fragile moment between phase 1 and phase 2. Phase 1 is clear now: the urgent need is for aid to come in. The Rafah crossing is still closed.