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Keir Starmer faces slavery reparations demands at Commonwealth summit
2024-10-22 00:00:00.0     每日电讯报-英国新闻     原网页

       

       Sir Keir Starmer faces being confronted with demands for slavery reparations at the Commonwealth summit in Samoa.

       Last week, No 10 said the issue was “not on the agenda” for the six-day meeting with leaders and officials from 56 countries.

       But The Telegraph understands discussions are now set to be part of official business. A draft of the agenda includes a section on slavery reparations, sources said.

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       Sources in Samoa insisted that Sir Keir “cannot escape” the issue.

       Full details of what may be demanded this week have not been confirmed, but Caribbean Community (Caricom) nations have consistently asked for a formal apology as a minimum.

       One source close to the reparations movement suggested that the King should use the occasion to apologise “for his family’s involvement” in the slave trade and reflect on the historical ties between the monarchy and slavery.

       They added that the British Government should “sit down to discuss reparations”.

       Late changes may still be made to the order of business proposed for the Samoa summit, and the issue could be dropped if there is no overall appetite among leaders for discussing reparations.

       However, government leaders can put forward topics of their choice, and Caricom representatives are prepared to make the case for Britain making reparatory payments for slavery.

       Sources have said that Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, will broach the subject, having previously insisted that Britain owes her country £3.9 trillion in reparations.

       The sum allegedly owed to the Caribbean as a whole has been calculated by different campaigners as totalling from £200 billion to £19 trillion.

       All three of the candidates for the role of Secretary-General of the Commonwealth – Joshua Setipa, Shirley Botchwey, and Mamadou Tangara – have voiced support for reparations.

       Labour MPs including Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Clive Lewis have urged their leader to take up the cause.

       No 10 has already indicated that it will not bow to demands for reparations, despite growing pressure, with a spokesman saying: “Just to be clear, reparations are not on the agenda for the Commonwealth heads of government meeting.

       “Secondly, the Government’s position has not changed. We do not pay reparations.”

       Delegation next year

       The Government faces another showdown: a Caricom delegation will come to the UK in 2025 with an updated list of reparations demands. David Lammy’s Foreign Office staff may have to receive the delegation for reasons of protocol.

       Among Caribbean campaigners, it had been thought that a Labour government might be more amenable to a cause which had been ignored by the Tories.

       But, frustrated by the reluctance of European governments to discuss reparations, Caricom campaigners have since pivoted to targeting institutions which would have a freer hand to apologise and make payments.

       The Bank of England has been asked by activists in Grenada to enter discussions about compensation for its direct ownership of a plantation on the island prior to abolition.

       The institutional approach was partly inspired by the decision of Laura Trevelyan, the former BBC journalist, to offer $100,000 (£77,000) in personal reparations for her family’s historical investment in Grenadian plantations.

       Britain profited from plantation economies on Caribbean islands, and the slave trade provided a renewable source of labour until 1807.

       The slaves themselves were not freed until 1834, and were initially bound to remain “apprentices” tied to plantations following abolition.

       


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关键词: slavery reparations     campaigners     government     Caricom     Commonwealth     Britain     Caribbean     delegation     Samoa    
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