Some Labour lawmakers on Sunday accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer of colonial thinking, leading leaders of the 56-nation club led by King Charles to agree to discuss reparations following a summit in Samoa.
Ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Samoa, where Caribbean and African countries would like to discuss the topic, Starmer stated that the issue of reparations for transatlantic slavery was not on the agenda. He said he would like to “look forward” rather than have “very long, endless discussions about reparations on the past.”
I think we should look forward, not backwards. Of course, there’s discussion about what we do in recognition of the slave trade… That is history. We can’t change our history. I think actually by focusing on [issues such as climate change and trade] we can make material impact in the next five, ten, 15, 20 years, whatever it may be. Whereas if we spend all of our time and energy simply talking about reparation, we won’t address those issues, he told ITV News Political Correspondent Romilly Weeks.
Labour MP, Clive Lewis, said it was surprising Starmer thought he could take a “colonial mindset” to the summit and “dictate what could and could not be discussed.” Another Labour MP, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, told a cross-party conference on reparations in London that “It is very insulting to tell people of African descent to forget and move forward.”
However, as a result, at the conclusion of the Samoa summit, the leaders of the 56-nation club, led by British King Charles, agreed to include in their final communiqué that the time had come to discuss reparations.
At a press conference in Samoa on Saturday, Starmer said slavery was “abhorrent” and that the discussions agreed in the communiqué would not be “about money.” There was no comment from a Downing Street spokesman on Labour lawmakers’ remarks.
The position is divided on two sides. Supporters of reparations argue that the legacy of slavery has led to persistent racial inequality, while opponents argue that countries should not be held responsible for historical mistakes.
