UK Prime Minister Addresses Reparations for Transatlantic Slavery

The issue is not on Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Commonwealth summit agenda, according to his spokesperson

Britain will not address the issue of reparations for transatlantic slavery at this week’s Commonwealth meeting, according to a Reuters report published on Monday.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) commenced in Samoa on Monday. It brings together leaders and officials from 56 countries, most of whom are former British colonies. The organization is set to choose a new secretary-general during the event.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles will attend the meeting. However, a spokesperson for Starmer stated on Monday that reparations were not on the prime minister’s agenda.

“We do not pay reparations,” the spokesperson said, adding “The position on an apology remains the same. We won’t be offering an apology at CHOGM.”

The spokesperson also noted that they would “continue to engage with partners on these issues.” 

In April 2023, Starmer’s predecessor, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak publicly declined to apologize or offer reparations for the slave trade, saying that “trying to unpick our history is not the right way forward and is not something we will focus our energies on.” 

For years, the UK has faced increasing demands to pay reparations for its role in the slave trade. The British Empire traded an estimated 3.1 million Africans, of whom 2.7 million were sent to colonies in the Caribbean, North and South America, and other places over a period of 150 years. The slave trade was abolished by Britain’s Parliament in 1807.

According to research conducted by economic consulting firm Brattle Group Report and published by the University of the West Indies in 2023, the UK alone would be liable for a sum of $24 trillion as reparations for transatlantic slavery in 14 countries. Of that sum, about $9.6 trillion would be owed to Jamaica.

Meanwhile, sources informed Reuters that the Caribbean Community (Caricom), which comprises 15 member states, is prepared to raise the issue of reparations at the Commonwealth meeting.

In July, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley announced Caricom’s decision to “very forcefully” address the subject of reparations during CHOGM in Samoa.

In August 2023, UN judge Patrick Robinson stated that the UK will no longer be able to ignore the growing calls for reparation for transatlantic slavery, emphasizing that compensation “is required by history and it is required by law.”