Kwame Opoku on the Guardian Parthenon Marbles Poll

Kwame Opoku, 'The Guardian Poll on the Return of the Parthenon Marbles', comment on Elginism blog, 17th Feb. 2014

It seems the British ruling class and the Government are holding on to the Parthenon Marbles and artefacts such as the Benin Bronzes as symbols of power and are not yet ready to hand back these objects to their owners who have been claiming their return over a long time. The argument usually presented by the British ruling class and their supporters is that if they hand over the Parthenon Marbles they will soon be faced with requests for the return of the Benin Bronzes and other artefacts in the British Museum; they do not want to open the flood gates. But this is one of those useless arguments which surprisingly seem to appeal to many. What the British authorities are saying in effect is that they have many artefacts of dubious acquisition in their museums and once they agree to return one object they may have to return all. [..] the real weakness of the argument based on the flood gates principle is that it is bereft of any law or morality.