The UK government’s position was it was a matter entirely for the trustees of the British Museum, and the then culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, had advised Blair that any loan would be on a ‘long-term-indeed permanent’ basis.
But, with London considering bidding for the 2012 Olympics, and Greece having assumed the EU presidency in 2003 and about to host the Olympics, Blair’s culture policy adviser, Sarah Hunter, wrote to him in April 2003 that there were ‘good reasons to change tack’, and to privately and publicly ‘encourage’ the British Museum to find an ‘accommodation’.
