Commonwealth slavery reparations debate: What could the UK be asked to pay?
Nadine White
Thu 24 October 2024
Sir Keir Starmer attends a Welcome Reception during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
Keir Starmer has faced renewed calls for Britain to pay slavery reparations which could far exceed £200 billion as the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chgom) in Samoa gets underway.
A group of 15 Caribbean governments, as part of the Caribbean Community or ‘Caricom’ organisation, have all agreed to table reparations on the Chgom agenda when the group meets.
Defying the UK, with Sir Keir saying he does not want to discuss the matter, a draft communique for the summit places it firmly on the agenda, reading: “Heads, noting calls for discussions on reparatory justice with regard to the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and chattel enslavement… agreed that the time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity.”
All three candidates for the position of Commonwealth Secretary-General role have supported reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism.
Earlier this month, Barbados’s prime minister met with King Charles at Buckingham Palace in London where she said they discussed the matter of reparations, and where she suggested a far higher figure.
Here’s everything you need to know about the debate:
Protest in the Caribbean during a recent Royal tour (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Britain’s history with Barbados
Barbados became Britain’s first slave society in 1661 and the first colony to have a “slave code” which enshrined in law that African people would be treated as chattel property and not human beings.
A number of British ships carrying trafficked African people from the continent first stopped in Barbados and the barbaric practice of brutal subjugation and indoctrination was honed here.
Members of the British royal family and UK governments were involved in the trafficking and sale of millions of African people for profit for centuries.
The captives were abducted and transported across the Atlantic to be sold as slaves to work on plantations across its Caribbean and North American colonies.
The same ships then returned to Britain carrying slave-grown produce including sugar, tobacco and cotton, then sold for profit that was pumped into Britain’s economy and infrastructure, as well as the coffers of aristocratic families.
Elizabeth I became involved in the lucrative dealings of John Hawkins, one of Britain’s first slave traders in the 16th century, with various figures and institutions across society being involved in the practice, right through to its abolition in 1834.
While it has been widely acknowledged that chattel slavery was wrong, reparation activists argue that practical amendments to these wrongs are required. (National Park Service/Reuters)
What are reparations?
Reparations are the act or process of making amends for a wrong.
Britain was involved in the trafficking and sale of millions of African people for profit for centuries. Campaigners, governments and descendants of the enslaved argue that practical amendments to the atrocities of slavery are required.
These calls have intensified in recent years with the advent of social media, politicians becoming more vocal on the topic and the growing republican sentiment sweeping across former British colonies in the Caribbean.
Far from just being about money, reparations denote the need to address contemporary inequalities faced by descendants of enslaved African people in particular, which is steeped in the legacy of colonialism.
Caricom has a ten-point plan for reparatory justice which maps out the recompense that should be carried out by European governments.
Why £200b - £19tr?
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, proceeds from the enslavement of African people funded the infrastructure of Britain.
Experts have made numerous estimations for reparations amounts over the years with varied projections about what appropriate amounts may look like.
Reverend Dr Michael Banner, the Dean of Trinity College Cambridge, hit headlines earlier this year when he claimed that Britain owed £205 billion in reparations.
Last year, a report authored by Patrick Robinson, a leading judge at the International Court of Justice, declared that the UK should pay $24tn (£18.8tn) for its slavery involvement in 14 countries.
The study was carried out by the Brattle Group, an American consultancy firm, and supported by the American Society of International Law and the University of the West Indies.
Britain was involved in the trafficking and sale of millions of African people for profit for centuries (PA)
What is Britain’s response?
Successive British governments and monarchs have declined to apologise formally for the country’s mass enslavement of African people.
This week, Keir Starmer has ruled out the prospect of reparations being discussed at the upcoming CHOGM summit.
When asked about the prime minister’s view on the matter, his spokesperson reportedly said on Monday: “We do not pay reparations.”
The British Royal Family have expressed sympathies over the atrocity of slavery; most recently, Charles III described his “profound sorrow” about it during the last Commonwealth summit in Rwanda - before he became monarch - and Prince William referred to the trade in Black lives as “abhorrent” during a royal tour speech delivered in Jamaica in 2022.
Last April, Charles indicated his support for research into the royals’ links with slavery.
The concept of reparations is typically broken down into five components that are all acknowledged by the United Nations. (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Who has engaged with the reparations demands?
A few British institutions have agreed to offer versions of redress for their role in slavery, including the Church of England, Greene King pub and brewing company, the University of Glasgow and NHS Lothian trust.
A handful of aristocratic British families with links to slavery have also apologised and attempted to make financial donations by way of amends, such as former BBC journalist Laura Trevelyan, and the family of former Prime Minister William Gladstone.
And last summer, the Dutch king, Willem-Alexander, apologised for the Netherlands‘ historical involvement in slavery and its ongoing effects, though the country’s prime minister, Mark Rutte, said the government would not pay reparations, going against recommendations made by an advisory panel in 2021. The Dutch government is currently being sued for this.
‘Britain helped to end slavery,’ historians argue, so why pay reparations?
Slavery did not end purely because of English benevolence, but largely because enslaved African people resisted through revolts and the barbaric practice was becoming untenable.
Other factors for outlawing slavery through the British parliament include the realisation among an emergent middle class that the trade was not economically beneficial to them, while wider opinion about slavery began to shift as its blood-curdling horrors became public knowledge.
Reparations have never been paid to those who were enslaved or their descendants and this is why campaigners’ demands for it continue.
On the other hand, the British government did agree to pay a generous compensation package of £20 million to the slave owners for the loss of their “property”.
The Bank of England administered the payment of slavery compensation on behalf of the British government and slave owners were paid approximately £20 million in compensation - about £300 million in today’s money - in more than 40,000 awards for enslaved people freed in the colonies of the Caribbean.
This amounted to some 40 per cent of the Treasury’s annual income - one of the largest loans in history - and the British taxpayer only finished paying this off in 2015.
Sir Keir Starmer attends a Welcome Reception during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
Keir Starmer has faced renewed calls for Britain to pay slavery reparations which could far exceed £200 billion as the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chgom) in Samoa gets underway.
A group of 15 Caribbean governments, as part of the Caribbean Community or ‘Caricom’ organisation, have all agreed to table reparations on the Chgom agenda when the group meets.
Defying the UK, with Sir Keir saying he does not want to discuss the matter, a draft communique for the summit places it firmly on the agenda, reading: “Heads, noting calls for discussions on reparatory justice with regard to the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and chattel enslavement… agreed that the time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity.”
All three candidates for the position of Commonwealth Secretary-General role have supported reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism.
Earlier this month, Barbados’s prime minister met with King Charles at Buckingham Palace in London where she said they discussed the matter of reparations, and where she suggested a far higher figure.
Here’s everything you need to know about the debate:
Protest in the Caribbean during a recent Royal tour (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Britain’s history with Barbados
Barbados became Britain’s first slave society in 1661 and the first colony to have a “slave code” which enshrined in law that African people would be treated as chattel property and not human beings.
A number of British ships carrying trafficked African people from the continent first stopped in Barbados and the barbaric practice of brutal subjugation and indoctrination was honed here.
Members of the British royal family and UK governments were involved in the trafficking and sale of millions of African people for profit for centuries.
The captives were abducted and transported across the Atlantic to be sold as slaves to work on plantations across its Caribbean and North American colonies.
The same ships then returned to Britain carrying slave-grown produce including sugar, tobacco and cotton, then sold for profit that was pumped into Britain’s economy and infrastructure, as well as the coffers of aristocratic families.
Elizabeth I became involved in the lucrative dealings of John Hawkins, one of Britain’s first slave traders in the 16th century, with various figures and institutions across society being involved in the practice, right through to its abolition in 1834.
While it has been widely acknowledged that chattel slavery was wrong, reparation activists argue that practical amendments to these wrongs are required. (National Park Service/Reuters)
What are reparations?
Reparations are the act or process of making amends for a wrong.
Britain was involved in the trafficking and sale of millions of African people for profit for centuries. Campaigners, governments and descendants of the enslaved argue that practical amendments to the atrocities of slavery are required.
These calls have intensified in recent years with the advent of social media, politicians becoming more vocal on the topic and the growing republican sentiment sweeping across former British colonies in the Caribbean.
Far from just being about money, reparations denote the need to address contemporary inequalities faced by descendants of enslaved African people in particular, which is steeped in the legacy of colonialism.
Caricom has a ten-point plan for reparatory justice which maps out the recompense that should be carried out by European governments.
Why £200b - £19tr?
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, proceeds from the enslavement of African people funded the infrastructure of Britain.
Experts have made numerous estimations for reparations amounts over the years with varied projections about what appropriate amounts may look like.
Reverend Dr Michael Banner, the Dean of Trinity College Cambridge, hit headlines earlier this year when he claimed that Britain owed £205 billion in reparations.
Last year, a report authored by Patrick Robinson, a leading judge at the International Court of Justice, declared that the UK should pay $24tn (£18.8tn) for its slavery involvement in 14 countries.
The study was carried out by the Brattle Group, an American consultancy firm, and supported by the American Society of International Law and the University of the West Indies.
Britain was involved in the trafficking and sale of millions of African people for profit for centuries (PA)
What is Britain’s response?
Successive British governments and monarchs have declined to apologise formally for the country’s mass enslavement of African people.
This week, Keir Starmer has ruled out the prospect of reparations being discussed at the upcoming CHOGM summit.
When asked about the prime minister’s view on the matter, his spokesperson reportedly said on Monday: “We do not pay reparations.”
The British Royal Family have expressed sympathies over the atrocity of slavery; most recently, Charles III described his “profound sorrow” about it during the last Commonwealth summit in Rwanda - before he became monarch - and Prince William referred to the trade in Black lives as “abhorrent” during a royal tour speech delivered in Jamaica in 2022.
Last April, Charles indicated his support for research into the royals’ links with slavery.
The concept of reparations is typically broken down into five components that are all acknowledged by the United Nations. (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Who has engaged with the reparations demands?
A few British institutions have agreed to offer versions of redress for their role in slavery, including the Church of England, Greene King pub and brewing company, the University of Glasgow and NHS Lothian trust.
A handful of aristocratic British families with links to slavery have also apologised and attempted to make financial donations by way of amends, such as former BBC journalist Laura Trevelyan, and the family of former Prime Minister William Gladstone.
And last summer, the Dutch king, Willem-Alexander, apologised for the Netherlands‘ historical involvement in slavery and its ongoing effects, though the country’s prime minister, Mark Rutte, said the government would not pay reparations, going against recommendations made by an advisory panel in 2021. The Dutch government is currently being sued for this.
‘Britain helped to end slavery,’ historians argue, so why pay reparations?
Slavery did not end purely because of English benevolence, but largely because enslaved African people resisted through revolts and the barbaric practice was becoming untenable.
Other factors for outlawing slavery through the British parliament include the realisation among an emergent middle class that the trade was not economically beneficial to them, while wider opinion about slavery began to shift as its blood-curdling horrors became public knowledge.
Reparations have never been paid to those who were enslaved or their descendants and this is why campaigners’ demands for it continue.
On the other hand, the British government did agree to pay a generous compensation package of £20 million to the slave owners for the loss of their “property”.
The Bank of England administered the payment of slavery compensation on behalf of the British government and slave owners were paid approximately £20 million in compensation - about £300 million in today’s money - in more than 40,000 awards for enslaved people freed in the colonies of the Caribbean.
This amounted to some 40 per cent of the Treasury’s annual income - one of the largest loans in history - and the British taxpayer only finished paying this off in 2015.
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Millie Cooke
Wed 23 October 2024
Labour MP and former shadow minister Bell Ribeiro-Addy has warned the “Commonwealth will crumble” if the government does not reopen talks on reparations for the slave trade.
It comes as the prime minister faces growing demands to rethink the UK’s position on the issue as he heads to Samoa for a major Commonwealth meeting.
On Monday, Downing Street rejected demands, saying the issue of reparations is “not on the agenda” for the event and “we won’t be offering an apology”.
But Ms Ribeiro-Addy, a former shadow immigration minister, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme “an apology is absolutely free”, dismissing attempts from both this government and the previous government to focus on the present rather than unpick wrongs of the past.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy said ‘an apology is absolutely free’ (PA)
Speaking about Sir Keir’s approach, the MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill said: “We still can’t seem to be able to go beyond the line of sorrow and deep regret, which are not fitting sentiments for one of the worst crimes in humanity.
“I mean, there are many different ways to go about compensation and reparations. Reparations is not just about finances, but an apology is absolutely free.”
She warned that it is impossible for nations impacted by the slave trade to focus on the present “unless they are given a fighting chance”, adding: “They continue to suffer the economic impact of enslavement and colonialism, and we have a responsibility for that, whether or not we were directly involved.
“We also have to remember that … the UK government took the largest loan it ever had to pay off the slave owners, not the enslaved.
“We only finished paying that one off in 2015 which means that people like myself, the Windrush generation, yourselves, we all contributed to paying slave owners - people whose families remain some of the richest in society.
“I worry about the government not looking at the issue now, because, you know, if we’re not careful, the Commonwealth will crumble.”
It comes after Labour MPs Clive Lewis, Nadia Whittome, Marsha de Cordova and former minister Dawn Butler all piled pressure on Sir Keir to change tack.
Meanwhile, recently resurfaced footage showed foreign secretary David Lammy, who will join Sir Keir in Samoa, supporting the case for reparations while he was a backbench Labour MP in the wake of the Windrush scandal.
The prime minister, who will arrive in Samoa tomorrow, is set to face a showdown next year with a delegation of Caribbean nations over the issue.
The 15 member states of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), who have previously set out formal demands for reparations in a 10-point plan, are planning a delegation to the UK in 2025 with an updated list of demands.
This year’s gathering of the heads of government for the 56 Commonwealth nations will see leaders elect the new secretary general. All three candidates seeking the top job have called for reparations to countries that were affected by slavery and colonialism.
While the prime minister’s official spokesperson insisted he would not be discussing reparations at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (Chogm) this week, sources in Samoa told TheTelegraph that a draft of the agenda includes a section on slavery reparations.
They warned that Sir Keir “cannot escape” the issue.
But the PM’s spokesperson said on Monday: “The government’s position on this has not changed, we do not pay reparations.
“The prime minister is attending this week’s summit to discuss shared challenges and opportunities faced by the Commonwealth including driving growth across our economies.”
Starmer says he wants to ‘look forward’ and not talk about slavery reparations
Eleni Courea in Apia and Aamna Mohdin
Wed 23 October 2024
Keir Starmer is under pressure to discuss reparatory justice with Commonwealth countries in Samoa this week.Photograph: Thomas Krych/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock
Keir Starmer has insisted he wants to “look forward” rather than have “very long endless discussions about reparations on the past” in his first comments on the issue before the Commonwealth summit.
The prime minister is under pressure to discuss reparatory justice with Commonwealth countries, most of which are former UK colonies, in Samoa this week.
Speaking to reporters travelling with him for the summit, Starmer said Commonwealth countries were “facing real challenges on things like climate in the here and now”.
“That’s where I’m going to put my focus, rather than what will end up being very, very long, endless discussions about reparations on the past,” he said. “This is about stance, really, looking forward rather than looking backwards.
“Slavery is abhorrent … there’s no question about that. But I think from my point of view and taking the approach I’ve just taken, I’d rather roll up my sleeves and work with them on the current future-facing challenges than spend a lot of time on the past.”
Caricom, a group of 15 Caribbean countries, has indicated it will push Starmer and the foreign secretary, David Lammy, on the issue at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) in Samoa.
In 2018 Lammy, then a backbench Labour MP, called for reparations to be paid to Caribbean nations. But in government Labour has ruled out apologising over Britain’s role in transatlantic slavery.
Starmer said the focus of the summit should be “growth and trade” between Commonwealth countries.
The government also announced a new UK trade centre of expertise based in the Foreign Office, which will advise developing countries on competing in global markets and connect them with UK businesses.
The trade centre is intended to boost economic ties with the Commonwealth. Six members – Bangladesh, Guyana, India, Mozambique, Rwanda and Uganda – are projected to be among the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world by 2027. The combined GDP of the Commonwealth is expected to exceed $19.5tn in the next three years.
Starmer’s comments on reparations prompted criticism from historians and campaigners who said they showed a lack of leadership and a fundamental misunderstanding about what leaders in the global south had been calling for.
Eric Phillips, the chair of the Guyana Reparations Committee, said: “I just don’t understand the relevance of the Commonwealth if PM Starmer takes this cruel approach.”
He argued it had been slavery that underpinned, nurtured and rewarded “the rampant capitalism that has today created the climate change crisis”, adding: “Britain … wants to trade with Commonwealth countries now that Brexit has hurt its economy. The trading principles are purely capitalistic and against the interest of former colonies. No reparations, no trade should be the new motto of countries that seek reparations.”
Liliane Umubyeyi, the director of African Futures Lab, said: “Heads of states like the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, have been saying that the demands for reparations don’t concern only what happened in the past, they concern contemporary conditions of inequality.”
Prof Verene A Shepherd, of the UN committee on the elimination of racial discrimination and director of the Centre for Reparation Research at the University of the West Indies, described Starmer’s remarks as dismissive.
She said they “will not make the campaign go away, and I hope that those who continue to be affected by the legacies of British colonialism will tell him so when they see him at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting”.
The veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott said: “It is disappointing that the PM has been so dismissive of the opportunity to debate reparations … the descendants of slaves live with the consequences of the transatlantic slave trade in the here and now.”
Commonwealth nations to discuss slavery reparations, climate change
James Redmayne and Catarina Demony
Updated Wed 23 October 2024
Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla visit Samoa
By James Redmayne and Catarina Demony
APIA (Reuters) -The leaders of the Commonwealth group of nations will meet at a welcome banquet in Samoa in the South Pacific on Thursday, with climate change and reparations for Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade on the agenda of summit discussions.
Leaders and officials from 56 countries with roots in Britain's empire, as well as Britain's King Charles, are attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in the small island nation, that began on Monday. The countries' foreign ministers also began a day of discussions on Thursday.
More than half of the Commonwealth's members are small states, many of which are low-lying island nations at risk from rising sea levels due to climate change.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said ocean temperatures are rising in the Pacific Islands at three times the rate worldwide, and its population is "uniquely exposed" to the impact of rising sea levels.
"Climate change is an is an existential threat. It is the number one national security threat. It is the number one economic threat to the peoples of the Pacific and to many members of the Commonwealth," Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told a news conference after a meeting with counterparts.
A number of African countries, including Zambia, warned the meeting about the escalating impacts of climate change, including the effects on food security, she added.
On Thursday, Charles will be shown the impact of rising sea levels which are forcing people to move inland, a Samoan chief said.
Island leaders are expected to issue a declaration on ocean protection at the summit, with climate change being a central topic of discussion.
REPARATIONS PUSH
Also on the agenda is a push for Britain to pay reparations for transatlantic slavery, a long-standing issue that has recently been gaining momentum worldwide, particularly those part of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and more recently the African Union.
British Prime Minister Kier Starmer said on Monday the UK will not bring the issue of reparations for historical transatlantic slavery to the table at the summit, but is open to engage with leaders who want to discuss it.
CARICOM has set up a commission to seek reparations from former colonial powers such as the UK, France and Portugal.
Those opposed to paying reparations say countries shouldn't be held responsible for historical wrongs, while those in favour say the legacy of slavery has resulted in persistent and vast racial inequalities today.
A CARICOM source familiar with the matter told Reuters CHOGM presents an “important opportunity” for dialogue on reparations and the region will be tabling the issue there.
"It is a priority for many of the Commonwealth's member countries and whenever those affected by atrocities ask to talk, there should always be a willingness to sit down and listen," said Kingsley Abbott, director of the University of London's Institute of Commonwealth Studies, who is attending the summit.
From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported by European ships and merchants and sold into slavery. Those who survived the brutal voyage ended up toiling on plantations under inhumane conditions in the Americas, mostly in Brazil and the Caribbean, while others profited from their labour.
(Reporting by in James Redmayne in Apia and Catarina Demony in London; Writing by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Michael Perry and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Kate Nicholson
Wed 23 October 2024
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands during the welcoming ceremony prior to an informal dinner on the sidelines of BRICS Summit at Kazan City Hall in Kazan, Russia, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. via Associated Press
Two of the most powerful leaders in the Commonwealth have dropped out of a biennial meeting with the UK PM and monarch so they can attend a summit in Russia instead.
It’s a blow to Keir Starmer and King Charles III, both of whom are travelling for 28 hours to host Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting known as CHOGM.
The King, who is the head of the Commonwealth, will still be hosting 55 nations in Samoa.
But, even though this is a gathering of state leaders which only occurs once every two years, there will be a few rather famous faces missing.
India’s PM Narendra Modi and South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa will be attending BRICS in the Russian city of Kazan, a gathering of more than 20 developing nations which claims to represent 45% of the world’s population.
As the summit is part of Putin’s efforts to show that he actually does still have allies and is not alone on the world stage – despite ongoing sanctions from the West over his war in Ukraine – this is a major win for Moscow.
The Russian president could not even attend last year’s summit, in South Africa, because the international arrest warrant out against him means his host country may have detained him.
Asked about Starmer’s take on Modi and Ramaphosa’s absence, No.10′s spokesperson said: “It’s a matter for them, the prime minister’s focus is very much on CHOGM.”
China’s Xi Jinping will also be at the summit along with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Sri Lanka – which is applying to join BRICS, but does not actually have a seat at their table yet – has also chosen not to send a foreign minister or the PM to Samoa.
Canada’s PM Justin Trudeau decided not to attend CHOGM either this year, and instead sent Ottoawa’s high commissioner to the UK in his place.
It was already shaping up to be a potentially tough summit for the UK.
Charles, who is recovering from cancer, is still the king of 15 Commonwealth countries, but may be braced further backlash in Samoa after an indigenous senator shouted “not my king” at him in Australia this week.
The UK is also likely to face additional calls reparations for its part in the slave trade at CHOGM, although Downing Street has already ruled out apologising at this year’s summit.
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