Downing Street has ruled out paying [slavery reparations](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/slavery/) to Caribbean countries ahead of a major Commonwealth summit.
The Caribbean Community’s 14 member states had been expected to push Sir Keir Starmer on the issue at next week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in [Samoa](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/samoa/).
But the Prime Minister’s official spokesman confirmed on Monday that there would be no cash from the Government for countries wanting compensation relating to Britain’s colonial past.
Asked about calls from countries including Barbados, the spokesman said: “Just to be clear, reparations are not on the agenda for the [Commonwealth](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/the-commonwealth/) Heads of Government meeting.
“Secondly, the Government’s position has not changed. We do not pay reparations.”
It is the first time Downing Street has clarified its stance on the issue having stayed silent over the weekend. The Foreign Office also previously declined to take a view.
The position is consistent with that of Rishi Sunak’s government, which repeatedly rejected the case for slavery reparations.
Good, I wouldn’t of wanted them from the Romans if this went ahead
Can we get compensation from the commonwealth countries for lost revenue please?
Lmfao, I literally don’t believe a word he says. If he says the sky is blue, it’s very obvious that it’s green.
So those pesky Viking’s still refusing to pay reparations?
UK just finished paying off the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act. No other country has done more to eradicate slavery including spilling their own blood.
Maybe these countries should give us 200billion instead for our hand in ending the slave trade at that time?
The UK just finished paying reparations to the slave owners who had to give up their slaves, it was finished being paid off less than a decade ago.
The compensation was the largest state-sponsored payout in British history before the 2008 banking crisis.
Good. We already pay reparations through high immigration at the moment.
Around 1835 the British gov took out a loan & bought the freedom of every slave in the empire. For 180 odd years every UK tax payer has been paying this loan off. It was finally paid in 2015.
Personally, I think this conversation should start with that.
But those Ottermans and North Africans Barbary pirates must pa….Oh wait…
But on a serious note, if there was a pot, wouldn’t that be better spent on, you know, fighting modern slavery?
Was anyone actually considering this ridiculous idea, or is he just reassuring people about something that wasn’t going to happen anyway?
The uk already paid its dews when it bought the freedom of slaves. Believe they only finished paying it in 2015.
The uk owes the black community nothing and the constant victim mentality will get them nowhere
To be honest, compensation should be made… to anyone still living who had been a slave…
With what money the UK has no money all the slavers took the money and died with it. The UK is broke.
Good
Reparations for slavery is so fucking dumb. Will the people who’s ancestors were part of the African side of the trade pay Reparations to the tribes they sold, then the tribes they sold, their slaves before do they then hand the money down and it goes all the way to the poor tribes who were bottom of the chain. Will white people with African ancestors be treated the same?
If reparation’s are in order then we need to look at the surviving ancestors of the slave owners and the companies that used slaves in their labor. Also the families of the complicit in the native countries that captured their own peoples and sold them as slaves. These are the people who are responsible for paying reparations.
Alongside many other points here, Britain also did quite a lot to stop slavery throughout the entire British empire and even beyond.
So a lot of the world can thank Britain for that.
Excellent. Should be put to bed forever.
My ancestors were poor as muck farm labourers in the middle of the arse end of nowhere in Lincolnshire. They weren’t involved in slavery, so why should *I* pay compensation for actions carried out other people’s ancestors – particularly those of the gentry?
Not only would it be unjust, but it would also be an admission that I bear responsibility for those peoples’ crimes, which I am opposed to on a fundamental level.
If they want reparations; it’s a civil matter – they should pursue the private estates of those responsible for it.
It seems strange to me that the transatlantic slave trade continues to get so much airtime considering there are more slaves today in many parts of the world than there have ever been throughout any other point in history, but no one seems to care about that.
Also no one ever seems too concerned by the Arab slave trade, the Barbary slave trade or various others that existed or still do, like the Libyan slave trade which has existed since the *7th century*.
Every population enslaved any population they could get hold off.
Even in Africa people from village A enslaved people from village B.
Egyptians had more slaves than free citizen.
We should also demand repayment for the work and losses of life Britain took to abolish the international slave trade from 1807.
Yes, we should make reparations. It is a process that needs a commission set up to work out how it should be calculated and paid out. I think it can only be paid to countries where we used to keep slaves and should be done in instalments over a period of years. It should look at the unpaid wages and at compensatory payments. It might also take into account the value of land inherited by the former colonies. Others may have different ideas of how it should be calculated, but however it is done it needs doing to be able to draw a line under this ignoble episode that is a dark stain on our past. It’s the right thing to do.
What about reparations from the African tribes to those they enslaved from other tribes… but as usual, I guess that doesn’t count!
Here’s what reparations means.
You, someone who’s probably overworked and underpaid, struggling to make ends meet, who’s family likely never owned slaves, who’s descendants were likely exploited by the elite ruling class in the coal mines and factories, will now pay tax out of your wages to people who have no skills and think that just because you were born here that you owe them.
I want reparations for having to hear this bollocks.
26 comments
***The Telegraph reports:***
Downing Street has ruled out paying [slavery reparations](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/slavery/) to Caribbean countries ahead of a major Commonwealth summit.
The Caribbean Community’s 14 member states had been expected to push Sir Keir Starmer on the issue at next week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in [Samoa](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/samoa/).
But the Prime Minister’s official spokesman confirmed on Monday that there would be no cash from the Government for countries wanting compensation relating to Britain’s colonial past.
Asked about calls from countries including Barbados, the spokesman said: “Just to be clear, reparations are not on the agenda for the [Commonwealth](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/the-commonwealth/) Heads of Government meeting.
“Secondly, the Government’s position has not changed. We do not pay reparations.”
It is the first time Downing Street has clarified its stance on the issue having stayed silent over the weekend. The Foreign Office also previously declined to take a view.
The position is consistent with that of Rishi Sunak’s government, which repeatedly rejected the case for slavery reparations.
**Read more:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/10/14/labour-sensitive-demands-slavery-reparations/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/10/14/labour-sensitive-demands-slavery-reparations/)
Good, I wouldn’t of wanted them from the Romans if this went ahead
Can we get compensation from the commonwealth countries for lost revenue please?
Lmfao, I literally don’t believe a word he says. If he says the sky is blue, it’s very obvious that it’s green.
So those pesky Viking’s still refusing to pay reparations?
UK just finished paying off the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act. No other country has done more to eradicate slavery including spilling their own blood.
Maybe these countries should give us 200billion instead for our hand in ending the slave trade at that time?
The UK just finished paying reparations to the slave owners who had to give up their slaves, it was finished being paid off less than a decade ago.
The compensation was the largest state-sponsored payout in British history before the 2008 banking crisis.
Good. We already pay reparations through high immigration at the moment.
Around 1835 the British gov took out a loan & bought the freedom of every slave in the empire. For 180 odd years every UK tax payer has been paying this loan off. It was finally paid in 2015.
Personally, I think this conversation should start with that.
But those Ottermans and North Africans Barbary pirates must pa….Oh wait…
But on a serious note, if there was a pot, wouldn’t that be better spent on, you know, fighting modern slavery?
Was anyone actually considering this ridiculous idea, or is he just reassuring people about something that wasn’t going to happen anyway?
The uk already paid its dews when it bought the freedom of slaves. Believe they only finished paying it in 2015.
The uk owes the black community nothing and the constant victim mentality will get them nowhere
To be honest, compensation should be made… to anyone still living who had been a slave…
With what money the UK has no money all the slavers took the money and died with it. The UK is broke.
Good
Reparations for slavery is so fucking dumb. Will the people who’s ancestors were part of the African side of the trade pay Reparations to the tribes they sold, then the tribes they sold, their slaves before do they then hand the money down and it goes all the way to the poor tribes who were bottom of the chain. Will white people with African ancestors be treated the same?
If reparation’s are in order then we need to look at the surviving ancestors of the slave owners and the companies that used slaves in their labor. Also the families of the complicit in the native countries that captured their own peoples and sold them as slaves. These are the people who are responsible for paying reparations.
Alongside many other points here, Britain also did quite a lot to stop slavery throughout the entire British empire and even beyond.
So a lot of the world can thank Britain for that.
Excellent. Should be put to bed forever.
My ancestors were poor as muck farm labourers in the middle of the arse end of nowhere in Lincolnshire. They weren’t involved in slavery, so why should *I* pay compensation for actions carried out other people’s ancestors – particularly those of the gentry?
Not only would it be unjust, but it would also be an admission that I bear responsibility for those peoples’ crimes, which I am opposed to on a fundamental level.
If they want reparations; it’s a civil matter – they should pursue the private estates of those responsible for it.
It seems strange to me that the transatlantic slave trade continues to get so much airtime considering there are more slaves today in many parts of the world than there have ever been throughout any other point in history, but no one seems to care about that.
Also no one ever seems too concerned by the Arab slave trade, the Barbary slave trade or various others that existed or still do, like the Libyan slave trade which has existed since the *7th century*.
Every population enslaved any population they could get hold off.
Even in Africa people from village A enslaved people from village B.
Egyptians had more slaves than free citizen.
We should also demand repayment for the work and losses of life Britain took to abolish the international slave trade from 1807.
Yes, we should make reparations. It is a process that needs a commission set up to work out how it should be calculated and paid out. I think it can only be paid to countries where we used to keep slaves and should be done in instalments over a period of years. It should look at the unpaid wages and at compensatory payments. It might also take into account the value of land inherited by the former colonies. Others may have different ideas of how it should be calculated, but however it is done it needs doing to be able to draw a line under this ignoble episode that is a dark stain on our past. It’s the right thing to do.
What about reparations from the African tribes to those they enslaved from other tribes… but as usual, I guess that doesn’t count!
Here’s what reparations means.
You, someone who’s probably overworked and underpaid, struggling to make ends meet, who’s family likely never owned slaves, who’s descendants were likely exploited by the elite ruling class in the coal mines and factories, will now pay tax out of your wages to people who have no skills and think that just because you were born here that you owe them.
I want reparations for having to hear this bollocks.