LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Britain’s foreign secretary said Monday that reparations for Britain’s role in the slave trade will not be about the “transfer of cash” and reiterated his country’s position that leans toward focusing on the future.
There have been calls from some former British colonies for a reckoning over Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, including at the recent 27th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where leaders called for a “ meaningful, respectful and truthful” discussion about restorative justice.
During a visit to Nigeria, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told the BBC that, as a descendant of enslaved people with his parents from Guyana, he recognizes that slavery was “horrible” and had left “scars”.
However, people want to think about the future and not debate reparations, Lammy said.
“It is not about the transfer of cash, especially at a time of crisis around the cost of living across much of the world, and certainly in Britain,” he said.
Lammy said Britain is pursuing a new approach to relations with African countries that will lead to “respectful partnerships that listen rather than tell, deliver long-term growth rather than short-term fixes and build a freer, safer and more prosperous continent .”
Although a handful of countries have apologized for their role in slavery, including the Netherlands, Britain – whose wealth was built through the transatlantic slave trade – has never formally done so.
At the recent Commonwealth summit, King Charles III indirectly acknowledged the call for reparations, but added that the past could no longer be changed. Instead, he urged leaders to find the “right language” and understanding of history “to guide us in making the right choices in the future, where inequality exists.”
