[throwawayyy9237]

There is no tenable contemporary argument for keeping them in the Bristish museum, IMO.

It seems to be all variations of "You gave me for safekeeping, now it's mine".

The weird thing for me is that there is no strong cultural link between Britain and the marbles. These might as well be the Rapa Nui Moai statues. Even the British Museum having the Liberty Bell would make more sense from an historic POV.

Again, just my opinion, but it seems like the British museum is using this to fight back against a very British malaise: not handling well with the slow decline of its status as a world power.