British Museum: Ethiopian Sacred Altar Tablets

Lord Boateng Excerpts

Wednesday 30th March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Foster of Bath (LD)]

My Lords—

[Lord Boateng (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My Lords, the museum is independent of the Government; it is up to the trustees. The Government support the trustees in their earnest work and the discussions they are having on these sensitive issues with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and others.

[Lord Boateng (Lab)]

My Lords, these items, which are of huge religious significance, were looted. They were stolen after a brutal, punitive expedition—that is the reality. Given that reality and given the fact that they are not able to be seen, venerated or studied by anybody, would it not be the right thing to do—the moral thing to do—and would it not enhance the moral position of the trustees and the British Government in their discussions with the Ethiopian Government about human rights, if they were to be returned without delay?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My Lords, the items have a complicated provenance. They were indeed taken by British troops after the expedition, but some of the items in the collection were themselves stolen by Tewodros II to assemble the collection in the first place. Some of the items have been given back, including by Her Majesty the Queen in 1965 to Emperor Haile Selassie. The British Museum is looking at the complexity of this issue, talking sensitively to the Ethiopian Church and others to decide the best way of caring for them and reflecting that complex past.