THE UK Education Secretary said it is "very clear" that the Parthenon sculptures should stay in the British Museum.
Whether her opinion is correct or not, the way she said it was certainly wrong.
ITV posted a clip of an interview with Gillian Keegan on Tuesday, which saw the top Tory say: "The Elgin marbles are actually protected under law and under that law they have to stay in the British Museum."
It's impossible to tell written down, but Scots were quick to point out the very obvious pronunciation mistake.
'The Elgin Marbles are actually protected under law and under that law they have to stay in the British Museum' Education Secretary @GillianKeegan says 'it's very clear' the Elgin Marbles should stay in the UK https://t.co/j7fxZFmVoB pic.twitter.com/NLaBoHSS8G
— ITV News Politics (@ITVNewsPolitics) November 28, 2023
"She did not just say Eljin marbles," Scots comic Eleanor Morton wrote. "If I had to hear how she pronounced Elgin, everyone else does too," another user quipped as they shared the video.
"Ehhh … It’s not pronounced with a 'Gee' for 'gin' … it’s EL-Guh-n … after the earl of Elgin thief who stole them," singer and songwriter Eddie Reader said.
She concluded the correction with: "Give them back."
Another user quipped that Elgin is pronounced with a "G like in Greece", referencing the diplomatic row between Rishi Sunak and the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Reader added: "Not G as in gin – G as in GREEDY."
Other users pointed out that Keegan's insistence that the sculptures are "protected under law" showed a rather different approach to legal issues than the Tories have taken in recent years.
"Hard to keep track of when laws count in the UK. Sometimes the Government deem they can be broken in specific and limited ways, sometimes they’re circumvented.
"Established international law carries the weight of a feather but some laws are cast iron and must never be changed," one user wrote.
The British Prime Minister cancelled a meeting earlier this week following his Greek counterpart’s push for the Parthenon Sculptures to be returned from the British Museum to Athens.
Downing Street claimed it received assurances that Mitsotakis would not publicly push for the return of the sculptures during his visit, but the Greek leader discussed the topic during a BBC interview ahead of the planned meeting with Sunak.
The row has continued into Wednesday as Greece’s foreign minister Giorgos Gerapetritis pushed for the sculptures to be returned to Athens at a summit also attended by Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
