By Athena Papakosta

Rishi Sunak remains unmoved by the attitude that even today British analysts, journalists and even politicians have not yet managed to decipher… with The Guardian newspaper likening the UK Prime Minister to a spoiled child who squeals “mine, mine ” as if he is in a playground at the moment when, as the leader of Labor – who are ahead in the polls – says, he laughs and the British public is bored because “any civilized Briton knows that the Parthenon Sculptures should be where they belong, in the former home them, Athens”.

In his first public reaction before the British Parliament and especially before his great political opponent, the British Prime Minister chose to blame the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakisthat he tried to steal attention by defending his decision to cancel his scheduled meeting with his Greek counterpart.

“Leave the British Museum, the Prime Minister has lost his mind” emphasized for his part, the leader of the official opposition and Labor leader, Keir Starmer blasting the British Prime Minister.

According to the political editor of the British BBC network, Chris Masonthere is consternation among Conservatives that Rishi Sunak has chosen to… publicly fight with Greece over the Parthenon Sculptures.

“Why do we keep talking about damned marbles” asked one Tory MP pointing out that Labor should focus on spending and not on the 200-year-old dispute with Athens.

Keir Starmer taking the floor reminded that Greece “is a NATO Ally, an economic ally and an important partner in dealing with irregular immigration” pointing out that “instead of Mr. Sunak taking advantage of the meeting to discuss these serious issues – as he did during his meeting with the Greek Prime Minister – he tried to humiliate Mr. Mitsotakis by canceling their meeting at the last minute”.

“We are certainly always ready to discuss important substantive issues with our allies, such as tackling illegal immigration or enhancing our security. But, when it was clear that the purpose of a meeting was not to discuss substantive issues of the future but instead (Mr. Mitsotakis) to draw attention and reheat issues of the past, it was not appropriate…”, replied the British Prime Minister .

Meanwhile, as noted by the British newspaper The Guardian, despite the Sunak-Starmer political duel inside (and outside) the British Parliament, Conservatives and Labor have similar positions on the Parthenon Sculptures. Both parties accept that they are banned from permanently returning to Greece and it is known that neither the Tories nor Labor intend to change the relevant legislation.

However, Labor party members say that if the British Museum can complete a loan deal – which is backed by museum chief George Osborne – then the party will not stand in the way.

According to the European edition of Politico diplomacy is sought while hope is sought after, as he explains in the London Playbook column, “Rishi Sunak has managed to make his own conflict with the Greeks even worse” with the columnist spending his attention on the “bad”, as he characterizes them, words that the British Prime Minister chose to use in order to position himself on the issue for the first time in public.

From his side, the British network Sky News even goes so far as to issue a… verdict on his political show Politics Hub during which political editors concluded that the British Prime Minister was clearly “uncomfortable” but also “embarrassed” by the consequences of his decision to cancel the appointment with Mr. Mitsotakis.

And indeed there are not a few who comment how the Sunak trick of inventing a crisis – possibly to create a poll problem for Labor – ultimately backfires on him. One only has to think how, apart from the standoff in the British parliament, Rishi Sunak with his attitude brought to the surface an issue that the British had (again) forgotten for a long time with 49% of citizens, today, in favor of reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures.