Let's play marbles! Is it time for the Parthenon loot to return to Greece?

In discussing the issue of whether the Parthenon marbles should be returned to Greece - where the Acropolis Museum, designed by the Swiss-American architect Bernard Tschumi, has already been built to house them - Trevor Phillips and Michael Dobbs consider what the sculptures mean to Britain and Greece. They also look at the British Museum Act 1963, which prevents them from simply being handed back.

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The sculptures have been at the British Museum since the early 19th century. Trevor Phillips, co-author of the Policy Exchange report Principles for Restitution, battles it out with Michael Dobbs, advisor on the board of the Parthenon Project, which aims to reunify the marbles.

What does the idea of “authenticity” mean in the context of the Parthenon marbles, which are so central to British, Greek and worldwide cultural heritage? Phillips is in favour of keeping the sculptures in Britain, where they have been since the first years of the 19th century. Dobbs argues for their return to Greece - a formal request for the permanent return to Greece of all the Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum's collection was first made in 1983.

Trevor Phillips All of these judgments, about where the marbles should be, have to be made against some sort of yardstick: it's not clear to me that people are always arguing about the same thing. I wouldn't mind a minute or two on why we think it matters, and to whom it matters.

Michael Dobbs What I'm interested in is the future - not stale arguments about the past. You have to make these issues relevant to a new audience in exciting ways.

TP I think some of the argument is often an elitist one. The same thing is true about reparations for slavery to the Caribbean. If you ask somebody in the street in Athens or in Kingston, Jamaica about reparations, or the return of the marbles, that's not going to be the first thing they're that interested in. They're going to want to talk to you about the new Tom Cruise movie, or about the cost of living.

'Authenticity would mean putting them back at the top of the Acropolis, where you couldn't see them'