Since its discovery, many officials have publicly expressed the imperative for the Staffordshire Hoard to be displayed in the area where it was discovered – with the suggestion that displaying artefacts near to where they belong is the sensible approach to take. Now it appears that in this particular case, both the Prime Minister & the Director of the British Museum support the display of the hoard in the area where it was discovered. Whilst these aims are admirable, they are entirely consistent with the British Museum’s stance on many disputed foreign artefacts in its collection, which arguably present a far stronger case, insomuch as that they were once integral parts of a building – they have a true bont to this context, rather than being loose items that could be easily relocated to any part of the country / world.

From:
Birmingham Post

Gordon Brown backs case to keep Anglo Saxon hoard in West Midlands
Nov 11 2009 by Jonathan Walker

There is “a very strong case” for displaying the historic haul of Staffordshire gold in Tamworth, ancient capital of the kingdom of Mercia, Gordon Brown has told MPs.

But whatever happened to the 1,500 items of treasure, the aim was that they should be housed in the West Midlands, he said.
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During talks with The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Costas Karamanlis, the Greek Prime Minister, has again raised the issue of the Parthenon Marbles. Gordon Brown’s response to the request is not mentioned. This may be the first time that the issue has been raised directly with Gordon Brown, but it has been discussed with Tony Blair on numerous occasions.

From:
Athens News Agency

10/22/2008
Karamanlis discusses global crisis with Brown

The Inner Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis will convene on Wednesday to discuss Interior Ministry’s issues. On Tuesday, the impact of the global financial crisis on Europe and the European economies were at the focus of talks between Greek prime minister Costas Karamanlis and his British counterpart Gordon Brown in London.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Karamanlis praised Brown’s contribution to the common effort for amelioration of the crisis. He said the primary target of the efforts was to minimize the consequences of the international financial crisis on the lives of the citizens and on the real economy, and particularly on the financially weaker brackets.
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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has commented publicly on the Elgin Marbles, during an interview on BBC’s One Show. His response predictably follows the line of previous statements by the Department of Culture Media & Sport on the issue.

You can listen to the show online on the BBC’s website for the next few days. The relevant section is about fifteen minutes into the programme.

From:
Daily Telegraph

Gordon Brown’s son calls him ‘Gordon’ rather than ‘dad’
By Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent
Last Updated: 8:44PM BST 17/07/2008
Gordon Brown has told how his five-year-old son John had taken to calling him “Gordon” rather than “dad”.

[…]

Despite a tape-recorded plea from Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the owner of the budget airline Easyjet, Mr Brown said that he did not support the return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece.

Insisting the best place for the Marbles was the British Museum, he added: “From everywhere in the world people can see them free of charge.”