Badenoch rejects calls for Britain to pay compensation for its role in trans-Atlantic slave trade

BRITISH Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has rejected calls for the UK to pay reparations for its involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade saying African traditional rulers and merchants are just as much to blame for the development.

Responding to calls for the UK to pay compensations to victims of the slave trade, just as it did to the slave owners at abolition, Ms Badenoch argued that present-day British taxpayers should not be held financially responsible for injustices committed generations before they were born. She then added that discussions about slavery should recognise the involvement of different societies in the historical trade.

Ms Badenoch questioned whether Caribbean governments seeking a formal apology from Britain were prepared to make similar demands of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from enslaved Africans. She also opposed proposals for financial compensation and debt cancellation as forms of reparations, arguing that previous international debt relief initiatives had failed to provide lasting economic solutions for beneficiary countries.

“Slavery was an evil in which people from every continent and region participated. We should be honest about the whole history, not select the parts that are politically convenient today, especially given Britain's leading role in ending the transatlantic slave trade

“If Caribbean countries are asking Britain for a formal apology for Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade, will they also be asking the same of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade?” Ms Badenoch asked.

Citing the Jubilee 2000, Drop the Debt and Make Poverty History campaigns, Ms Badenoch said more than $100bn in debt had been written off about 25 years ago but several beneficiary countries had subsequently accumulated even greater debts. She then criticised Britain's Labour government over public spending, arguing that the country should not commit additional resources to international reparations while facing domestic welfare spending pressures.

She insisted that British citizens should not be made to bear the financial consequences of historical events in which they had no personal involvement. Ms Badenoch also criticised political elites in Commonwealth countries, accusing some of using Britain's colonial and slavery history to deflect attention from their failure to address present-day economic challenges.

She argued that governments should concentrate on improving living standards and creating economic opportunities for their citizens rather than repeatedly demanding compensation from Britain. Ms Badenoch further criticised Prime Minister Andy Burnham over his position on confronting Britain's historical involvement in slavery and the possibility of issuing another formal apology.

Ms Badenoch added: “As Prime Minister, Andy Burnham should be Britain's greatest defender. Instead, he is writing articles saying we need to confront our history and considering another formal historical apology.”

She cited former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's expression of sorrow and regret over Britain's involvement in the slave trade nearly two decades ago, arguing that another apology was unnecessary. Ms Badenoch also questioned the value of continuing Commonwealth summits if Britain repeatedly faced demands for financial compensation.