Norfolk MP calls for UK to negotiate Caribbean slavery reparations

Dan Grimmer
Wed, 8 March 2023 

Norwich South MP Clive Lewis (Image: ©mark tillie)

Norwich South MP Clive Lewis has called on the UK government to enter into discussions with Caribbean states over paying reparations for Britain's role in slavery.

The Labour MP made the call during a debate in Westminster Hall in which he said there was "an urgent need for some form of reparatory justice" after 400 years of what he branded "400 years of exploitative colonial history".

Mr Lewis's remarks came after members of the British aristocratic Trevelyan family went to Grenada - where Mr Lewis's father was born and raised.

The Trevelyan family apologised and promised to pay reparations for their ancestors' ownership of more than 1,000 enslaved Africans.

Mr Lewis said the issue should not be dismissed as "the obsession of a group of so-called woke extremists" and that it continued to have an impact on the lives of millions of people.

He said: "This is a live issue that evokes great passion and sometimes anger."

Mr Lewis called on prime minister Rishi Sunak to enter negotiations with leaders in the Caribbean.