British Museum: commercial exploitation of priceless relics

by Chen Xi

In an act that Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni condemned as "provocative indifference" the British Museum hosted a lavish fundraiser at £2,000 per ticket last weekend. Dubbed the "Pink Ball" and held in the room housing the Parthenon’s “Elgin Marbles”, it ignited fierce criticism and revived long-standing debates over cultural ethics and colonial restitution. The high-profile fund-raising dinner in the Parthenon Marbles room, featuring 800 A-list guests, including rock legend Mick Jagger and supermodel Naomi Campbell The Times reported.
The uproar underscores a deeper crisis – the museum's mission to safeguard humanity's shared legacy is being systematically undermined by commercial greed and colonial-era double standards. Such commercial exploitation has surely betrayed the sanctity of civilisation.
As one of the world's oldest and most revered public institutions, the British Museum claims its mission is to preserve human history for future generations. Yet its decision to transform a space holding ancient Greek sculptures into a backdrop for champagne toasts and celebrity photos reveals a troubling departure from that very purpose.
Mendoni's statement highlighted the core issue: "The safety, integrity, and ethics of the monuments should be the main concern of the British Museum… such actions are offensive to cultural assets and endanger the exhibits themselves". 
Her criticism echoes a broader consensus among archaeologists and heritage experts: When artefacts are treated as party decor, their dignity is stripped, and their physical safety is at risk.
This is not the first time that the museum has blurred the line between culture and commerce. In 2024, the same room was used for a fashion show, drawing similar protests from Greece. Each such event reinforces the perception that the museum's leadership views its collections, particularly those acquired under colonial contexts, as assets to monetise rather than heritage to protect.
Greece's case is not unique. China, Egypt and Nigeria, among others, have long demanded the return of their stolen heritage. 
Egyptian archaeologist and Egypt's former minister of state for antiquities affairs, Zahi Hawass, who is leading a petition for the return of the country's priceless Rosetta Stone from the British Museum, has highlighted the psychological trauma of seeing national icons displayed in former colonisers' museums. These narratives expose a colonial-era hierarchy in which Western institutions dictate cultural ownership, perpetuating historical injustice.  
The British Museum has exhibited the Parthenon marbles since their acquisition from Lord Elgin in 1816.
Due to the 1963 British Museum Act, the law prevents the museum from returning any of its collection permanently except in very limited circumstances. However, legal hurdles are not insurmountable, especially when there is political and moral will. 
For example, in 2024, more than 200 ancient pre-Hispanic artefacts ranging from ceramics to important works of indigenous art were successfully reclaimed by Peru from collectors and institutions around the world.
What the Pink Ball reveals is that the real obstacle may not be the law, but an attitude. If the British Museum is serious about being a museum for the world, it should stop treating world heritage as its private party venue.
In fact, the tide is shifting. Recent years have seen growing momentum for relic repatriation. 
In 2022, Germany returned 22 artefacts looted in the 19th century to Nigeria. In 2025, Egypt successfully retrieved 25 smuggled artefacts from the USA, demonstrating that international cooperation works. 
China, as a leader in cultural heritage advocacy, has repatriated more than 2,000 artefacts since 2012, including the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts from the USA in 2025. 
Such cases inspire Greece, which proposed a cultural partnership to fill the British Museum's Greek galleries if the marbles are returned.  
Professor Huo Zhengxin from the China University of Political Science & Law says that there is no longer any substantial gap between China's ability to conduct cultural relic protection, restoration and research and that of Western countries. 
The British Museum, however, has been hit by a series of scandals involving stolen cultural relics in recent years and cannot even guarantee the safety of its collected cultural relics. 
Therefore, if countries with lost cultural relics, especially those in the Global South, can coordinate their positions and speak with a unified voice under international multilateral mechanisms, they can promote the further improvement and implementation of international rules.
Stamatios Boyatzis, a professor at the University of West Attica in Greece, also echoed that since Greece is now fully capable of safeguarding its own cultural relics, the British Museum should return them rather than using so-called conventions as an excuse.
He told the media during the 2025 Sanxingdui Forum that under the current international landscape, it is hoped that Greece, China and other more source countries of cultural relics can join hands to make their voices heard on the global stage.
In summary, the Parthenon Marbles controversy is a referendum on the ethics of cultural ownership. The British Museum's commercialisation of these artefacts is a moral abdication, symptomatic of a broader crisis in how Western institutions wield power over global heritage. 
As Greek Culture Minister Mendoni stated, the British Museum's actions "endanger the exhibits themselves," both physically and symbolically. It is time for the museum to listen, not just to the clinking of glasses, but to the voices of those whose history it holds.
Global Times

Whose streets? Our streets!

by New Worker correspondent

Excellent turnout for the Whitechapel anti-fascist mobilisation last weekend. Thousands march through the East End of London following racist threats to launch a “crusade” in Tower Hamlets on the day as part of a series of events across the country promoted as a “mass deportations tour”. They wanted to parade through the streets bearing wooden crosses to 'reclaim Whitechapel from the Islamists”. But the march, called by UKIP, a racist sect that Nigel Farage abandoned in 2018, was banned by the police as there was a “realistic prospect of serious disorder". Although the fascists were correctly banned from spreading their poison in the area, it was still necessary to turn up and show solidarity with the local community. 
At the rally called by the Stand Up to Racism movement the main speakers were Jeremy Corbyn and the borough mayor, Lutfur Rahman, whose Aspire party leads Tower Hamlets’ council. And the whole community turned out including large numbers of local youths and members of the  Muslim community as well as the maverick Labour MP Apsana Begum and a large bloc of local youths.

New challenges for China

by New Worker correspondent

Zheng Zequang opens the seminar

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined social scientists, businessmen, solidarity workers and other communists for an economic seminar at the Chinese embassy in London last week. 
And the Chinese ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, opened on the new developments in China and the opportunities it gave to the world that was the theme of the symposium and the discussion that followed.
He said China is marching towards the second Centenary Goal – a call to action for the entire country to seize the momentum and advance Chinese modernisation.
With this meeting, the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core sets to unite and lead the Chinese people to write yet another chapter on the miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability and to open up new horizons for Chinese modernisation.
China was ready to share opportunities and seek common development with the world. China cannot develop in isolation from the world, while the world cannot prosper without China. While pursuing modernisation, China will strive to safeguard world peace and development.
Zheng pointed out that since last year, under the strategic guidance of the leaders from both China and Britain, positive progress has been made in China-UK relations. But, from time to time, this relationship has also been undermined by anti-China forces. The improvement and development of China-UK relations is in the fundamental interest of people in both countries, and it requires the concerted efforts of both sides.
The UK side should have the right perspective. Those who attack China by touting "China threat" and fabricating lies are ignorant and arrogant. They do not represent the mainstream of the UK, and their attempts are doomed to failure. Both sides should uphold mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. The UK must honour its commitment, and properly handle Taiwan-related issues in accordance with the one-China principle. The two sides should commit to mutually-beneficial cooperation, create new highlights of cooperation and bring more benefits to the two peoples.
In his contribution Andy Brooks said “stable growth, stable policies and stable expectations – this is what the people want. China's development follows a clear direction that is taken with confidence and determination...this is China’s answer to Western calls for tariff walls and trade wars. China's approach to development is not about fighting for your own corner but about serving the people for the benefit of the entire world...
“The imperialists think that their guns will ensure that they can ignore the will of the people for as long as they like. But they were proved wrong in the 20th  century and they will be proved wrong today. The days when people listened to the rich men who told us that the greatest virtue of humanity was the possession of the largest amount of money are over...
Everywhere we look in the capitalist world we see unemployment, homelessness, poverty, drug abuse and crime. The symptoms of industrial decline, inflationary pressures, stock market volatility and economic stagnation. This is capitalism. And working people are being made to carry the burden of its failure. But in People’s China working people aren’t simply reacting to global challenges – they are shaping the very future of our world”. 

Irish patriot remembered in Brixton

by Theo Russell

Around sixty activists gathered at Brixton Prison in South London last Sunday to remember Terence McSwiney, the elected Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland, who died there after 74 days on hunger strike on 25th October 1920.
McSwiney, who was also an author and playwright, had been arrested by the British Government for possession of "seditious articles and documents" during the 1919-21 Irish War of Independence (the “Tan War”). After joining the hunger Cork Prison strike he was transported to Brixton gaol.
Thomas Gould, the  Sinn Féin  MP for Cork North Central, told the crowd that McSweeney was born in Knocknaheeney, Cork’s toughest working class district, and said “it’s brilliant to be here today with so many working class people, 105 years after his death”.
Gould recalled that the sisters Dolores and Marian Price were also on hunger strike in Brixton Prison, which lasted for 208 days because they were force-fed for 165 days.
He added: “What the Israelis are doing to Palestinian civilians, to women and children, it’s hard to believe that anyone could do these things to another human being. I would say this to ye, come out with your flags and your banners, come out and protest. The question now is does the Palestinian people have a right to exist?” he said adding that the solution to the Israel Palestine conflict lay in a two state solution.
Gould also welcomed the election of Catherine Connolly, who was supported by Sinn Féin and other left parties in Ireland, saying it was “a great day for Ireland”.
Frank Glynn spoke for the Terence MacSwiney Commemoration Committee about many other Irish hunger strikers, including Thomas Ashe, who died in Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison in 1917, and Michael Gaughan, who died in 1974 in Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight, both of whom dying as a direct result of violent force feeding.
Joe Murphy and Michael Fitzgerald, who were Terence McSwiney’s comrades and also died on hunger strike in Cork Gaol in 1920; Frank Stagg, who died in 1976 in Wakefield Prison after 62 days on hunger strike; and of course the ten hunger strikers who died in the Maze Prison, Northern Ireland in 1981.
He also reminded those present that fifteen women in Armagh Women's Prison joined the 1981 hunger strike.
The singer Sean Brady and uillean piper Tom Lynch provided powerful songs and tunes.
The Terence MacSwiney Committee also organises for events at Parkhurst and Wakefield prisons to remember Michael Gaughan and Frank Stagg. 

Remember Ukraine's political prisoners!

 

by New Worker correspondent

Activists from International Ukraine Anti Fascist Solidarity (IUAFS) protested at the Ukrainian embassy in London last week against the ten year prison sentence for Anatoly Miruta for distributing humanitarian aid, along with thousands of Ukrainian citizens who have been prosecuted, or even some cases murdered, for allegedly co-operating with Russian forces in the past three and a half years.
Miruta and his mother had organised a makeshift shelter in Syniak, a village north of Kiev where locals collected water and charged their phones, when the town was occupied by Russian troops in March 2022. Miruta said at his trial that all the Ukrainian authorities, soldiers and police had fled from the village, “leaving the people to fend for themselves”.
This month he appealed against his sentence, claiming that the court had ignored statements supporting his case and allowed dubious testimonies from previously unknown witnesses.
The protestors also carried placards declaring “Gonzalo Lira – We haven’t forgotten you”, a reminder of the Chilean-American blogger living in Kharkov who was persecuted by the Kiev government and died in prison in January 2024. An envelope containing this sign was left at the embassy.

Free Palestine march rocks London!

by New Worker correspondent

Hundreds of thousands took to the streets of London on Saturday in support of the Palestinian Arabs, marking two years of the war in Gaza. Protesters gathered at Victoria Embankment in central London and marched towards Westminster, before crossing the Westminster bridge and proceeding to Whitehall via Waterloo Bridge and the Strand. Marchers, some 700,000 strong, chanted slogans like "Stop starving Gaza" and "End the siege" while the police held Zionist provocateurs at bay to avoid trouble in what, once again, was an entirely peaceful demonstration.
The protest came as displaced Palestinians began returning from the southern part of the Gaza Strip to the north the day after after the ceasefire brokered by the Americans and the feudal Arab oil princes ended the fighting in the beleaguered Palestinian enclave.
Meanwhile Ellie Chowns, the Green MP for North Herefordshire, has called on the Israelis to free Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, who was jailed on trumped up charges of terrorism in 2002. “Marwan Barghouti is a powerful unifying voice for Palestinians who could potentially play a crucial role in securing meaningful and lasting peace in the region” she said amid renewed international attention on Barghouti, as new details emerge about his ill-treatment in Israeli custody.
Palestinian sources say that Barghouti was beaten up by Israeli guards on 14th September while being transferred between the Ganot and Megiddo prisons. The 66-year-old reportedly suffered four broken ribs during the attack.
His son, Arab Barghouti, said that eight Israeli prison guards assaulted Marwan while in transit. "What we know is that while they were transferring my father, they stopped along the way and eight security guards... started beating my father up, kicking him, throwing him on the ground and punching him – focusing on the head, chest and legs as well".

High fares hurt Londoners

By New Worker correspondent

London's high public transport fares obstruct access to employment opportunities, education and reasonable living standards, a briefing published this week by Fare Free London shows. 
Working Londoners spend many extra hours a week – and, in some cases, many extra hours a day – commuting, to avoid expensive trains and use cheaper but slower buses. Students tangle with trade-offs between housing costs, which are lower outside the capital, and travel costs that are much higher
London's tube and train fares are among the highest in the world. They exacerbate social isolation and mental illness among the most vulnerable Londoners. They obstruct people's ability to socialise, to take their children places, and to access London's cultural treats. 
The briefing, Fares Unfair: London public transport and the cost of living crisis, is based on the results of a survey conducted over the summer by volunteer researchers. 
Pearl Ahrens of Fare Free London said "we did not have the intention, or capacity, to survey a demographically representative group of Londoners. We focused on the way that the relatively high cost of public transport in London affects lower-income households, whose views are often least heard.
"Nearly half of our respondents said they worry about costs every time they use public transport. More than half said they use cheaper modes of transport because better ones are too expensive. This often meant people taking long journeys by bus instead of tube."
Respondents' quotes in the survey are a stark reminder of the yawning gap between London's wealthiest and poorest households.
One of them takes a journey from Lewisham to the Royal Docks using three buses and the Woolwich Ferry "to save the money I would have to spend if I took the Underground or the DLR". Another takes an hour's journey to school by bus, double the time it would take by train.
A single man told one of our researchers of how he had had a cleaning job in Zone 1. To start work at 7:00 am, he caught a bus from SE18 at 5:00 am, got off in Zone 2 and walked the rest of the way.
A single mother of two explained how she takes three buses to work, from SE9 to Piccadilly. She described herself as "struggling to make ends meet – doing a balancing act", and having to limit her children’s weekend outings due to travel costs.
Another respondent said "every time I step out of the house, I spend more money on travel than even groceries. It disconnects me from seeing my family as well as my friends."
The briefing urges the Greater London Authority and the Mayor's office to consider how the impact of high fares affects policy goals including those in the Mayor's Transport Strategy and policies on tackling social inequality.
It urges that these issues are included in discussions about the funding basis of Transport for London, to "consider how this can be changed, to reduce and eventually abolish reliance on fares income". 

NCP returns to Ipswich

Gawain Little, Samuel Swale, Andy Brooks & John Maryon

by New Worker correspondent

Comrades and friends assembled in the Friends Meeting House, on a wet and windy evening, to form a New Worker supporters group in Ipswich, the Suffolk port that goes back to Saxon days.
This gathering, after a break of several years, marked the return to Ipswich of political activity for the New Communist Party. The betrayal by the Labour Party of its core values, growing poverty and the prospect of an extreme right-wing government taking power, contributed to the decision to step up the class struggle by forming the new group. The new organisation aims to hold regular meetings to encourage discussion and debate amongst left wing parties to build friendship and unity and overcome sectarianism. It will enable the New Worker to reach out to a wider audience and expand its influence. 
NCP leader Andy Brooks took the chair. Samuel Swale, a recent university graduate in geography from Bangor University gave a presentation detailing the economic failure of Britain and the causes and effects of poverty. Gawain Little, the general secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions, spoke about the changes and challenges facing the labour movement. He outlined the difficulties in trying to convince workers that immigrants were not the cause of Britain's problems. And John Maryon, an NCP Politburo member, spoke about the decline of Britain and the political and economic crisis facing the United States as its grip on world hegemony was challenged. The contrast between the USA and People's China was illustrated by comparing the 50,000 km of high speed rail built in the Asian nation over the past 12 years while America had built none.
The New Worker Supporters Group meeting was a success and further events are planned. We already have a new member and others are considering taking our paper. Once we are fully established then similar moves will be taken to spread the word to other towns. 

Court throws out Kneecap terror charges

Mo Chara outside the court

by New Worker correspondent

A London court has thrown out a terror-related charge against a member of the Irish-language Belfast hip-hop group Kneecap. Rapper Mo Chara (My Friend), the stage name of Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, had been charged with a single count for waving a flag of the Hezbollah Lebanese resistance movement that’s banned in Britain as a terrorist organisation during a London concert at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town last year.
But last week the chief magistrate sitting at Woolwich Crown Court said the case should be thrown out following a technical error in the way the charge against the rapper was brought.
Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill welcomed the move, saying "these charges were part of a calculated attempt to silence those who stand up and speak out against the Israeli genocide in Gaza”. O’Neill, who is also vice-president of Sinn Féin, said “Kneecap have used their platform on stages across the world to expose this genocide, and it is the responsibility of all of us to continue speaking out and standing against injustice in Palestine".
The Zionists say Kneecap glorifies Arab resistance movements like Hamas and Hezbollah. But the group says it doesn't support Hezbollah or Hamas or condone violence and these attacks are simply an effort to silence the band because of its support for the Palestinian cause throughout the war in Gaza. 

Palestinian flag raised outside new embassy

Husam Zomlot at the opening

by New Worker correspondent

The Palestinian flag was raised outside the premises of what is now Palestine’s embassy to the United Kingdom in London on Monday marking Britain’s historic but long-overdue recognition of the Palestinian state. The Palestinian envoy Husam Zomlot raised the flag watched by Labour government ministers including Health Secretary Wes Streeting – as well as Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, Scottish First Minister John Swinney and Jeremy Corbyn who leads the Independent Alliance bloc in the House of Commons.
Husam Zomlot said recognition was about “righting historic wrongs and committing together to a future based on freedom, dignity and fundamental human rights”. He called on people to remember “that this recognition comes at a time of unimaginable pain and suffering as a genocide is being waged against us – a genocide that is still being denied and allowed to continue with impunity.
“It comes as our people in Gaza are being starved, bombed and buried under the rubble of their homes; as our people in the West Bank are being ethnically cleansed, brutalised by daily state-sponsored terrorism, land theft and suffocating oppression”.
Zomlot said the recognition was occurring “as the humanity of Palestinian people is still questioned, our lives still treated as disposable and our basic freedoms still denied. Yet, this moment stands as a defiant act of truth, a refusal to let genocide be the final word; a refusal to accept that occupation is permanent; a refusal to be erased and a refusal to be dehumanised”.
And Corbyn said “well done to all those who have tirelessly campaigned for the recognition of Palestine – an inalienable right of the Palestinian people. Next, the UK should recognise the genocide in Gaza, end its complicity in crimes against humanity, and stop arming Israel”.

China: 76 years of progress

traditional Chinese music at the reception

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined diplomats, businessmen, solidarity campaigners and members of the Chinese community in London to celebrate the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China last week. Over 400 guests gathered at the Peninsula hotel in Belgravia for a reception followed by a musical interlude performed by  artistic troupes including overseas Chinese and international students, as well as embassy staff.
Wang Qi, the Chinese chargé d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in the UK, delivered a speech highlighting China's achievements in the past years, and extended thanks to people from all walks of life who have long cared for and supported the development of China and bilateral relations.
China had achieved two remarkable miracles: rapid economic growth and sustained social stability, both rare in world history, over the past 76 years. 
In the first half of 2025, China saw the establishment of 30,000 new foreign-invested enterprises, a year-on-year increase of about 12 per cent, with actual foreign capital utilisation exceeding 420 billion yuan.
Wang said that China and the UK, both influential nations, held nine key dialogues this year across areas such as strategy, economy, energy, military, health, artificial intelligence, leadership, climate, and the environment. Both sides should maintain their strategic partnership, respect differences, and pursue win-win cooperation by implementing dialogue outcomes, reducing disruptions, expanding engagement, and deepening mutual benefits to advance China-UK relations.
Seema Malhotra, a Home Office minister, replied speaking highly about the renewed China-UK relationship – spotlighting security, environment, and economic growth as three priorities to shape UK's vision for future China-UK relations, and expressing the Starmer government’s willingness to take the ties forward in a constructive and effective way.
This was followed by a concert given by artistes that included the famed singers Deng Tao and Chen Luhong, violinists from the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey, Chinese traditional music, the choir of the Chinese Embassy in the UK and the London Chinese Philharmonic Choir.