David Cameron is facing calls for Britain to pay billions of pounds in reparations for slavery ahead of his first official visit to Jamaica on Tuesday.
Downing Street said the prime minister does not believe reparations or apologies for slavery are the right approach, but the issue is set to overshadow his trade trip to the island, where he will address the Jamaican parliament.
Ahead of his trip, Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caricom Reparations Commission, has led calls for Cameron to start talks on making amends for slavery and referenced the prime minister’s ancestral links to the trade in the 1700s through his cousin six times removed, General Sir James Duff.
In an open letter in the Jamaica Observer, the academic wrote: “You are a grandson of the Jamaican soil who has been privileged and enriched by your forebears’ sins of the enslavement of our ancestors ... You are, Sir, a prized product of this land and the bonanza benefits reaped by your family and inherited by you continue to bind us together like birds of a feather.
“We ask not for handouts or any such acts of indecent submission. We merely ask that you acknowledge responsibility for your share of this situation and move to contribute in a joint programme of rehabilitation and renewal. The continuing suffering of our people, Sir, is as much your nation’s duty to alleviate as it is ours to resolve in steadfast acts of self-responsibility.”
Professor Verene Shepherd, chair of the National Commission on Reparation, told the Jamaica Gleaner that nothing short of an unambiguous apology from Cameron would do, while a Jamaican MP, Mike Henry, called on fellow parliamentarians to turn their back on Cameron if reparations are not on the agenda, noting that the Jamaican parliament has approved a motion for the country to seek reparation from Britain.
“If it is not on the agenda, I will not attend any functions involving the visiting prime minister, and I will cry shame on those who do, considering that there was not a dissenting voice in the debate in parliament,” he told the newspaper.
Jamaica’s prime minister Portia Simpson Miller called for non-confrontational discussions at the UN in 2013, but Britain has never accepted the case for any compensation payments.
A Number 10 official said: “This is a longstanding concern of theirs and there is a longstanding UK position, true of successive governments in the UK, that we don’t think reparations are the right approach.
“The PM’s point will be he wants to focus on the future. We are talking about issues that are centuries old and taken under a different government when he was not even born. He wants to look at the future and how can the UK play a part now in stronger growing economies in the Caribbean.”
The official said Cameron’s purpose in visiting Jamaica and Grenada was to reinvigorate their relationship with the UK.
“He looks at that kind of relationship and who the Caribbean see as their major partners and sees them looking to China and Venezuela and thinks Britain should be in there. Britain has long historical ties with these countries,” she said.
Perhaps Britain should pay for all unhappy Jamaicans seeking their roots to be sent to live in deepest Africa where their ancestors originated.
Maybe they'd jump at the chance.
Perhaps Britain should pay for all unhappy Jamaicans seeking their roots to be sent to live in deepest Africa where their ancestors originated.Maybe they'd jump at the chance.
Many people from Jamaica live here in Britain; this could in effect mean they are paying for the suffering of their ancestors out of their own pocket. Also I would be strongly opposed to my tax payments going to pay for this, we the working class made nothing out of colonialism or slavery, just look at the way we were living/existing at the time. The best way to solve this would to target those families who made money from slavery. I bet there would be a few politicians, social commentators, human rights lawyers and most of the social elite would have red faces, so name them and shame them
Many people from Jamaica live here in Britain; this could in effect mean they are paying for the suffering of their ancestors out of their own pocket. Also I would be strongly opposed to my tax payments going to pay for this, we the working class mad
There is a website where you can search your family name to find out how your family was involved. I believe palmerston had the greatest ownership of slaves of all.
There is a website where you can search your family name to find out how your family was involved.I believe palmerston had the greatest ownership of slaves of all.
When I think of Jamaica (which isn't very often) I think of lazy good for nothings idling in the sun, drinking alcohol, smoking cannabis and occasionally knifing/shooting each other. Reparations ?? I wouldn't be against sending a ship stocked with rum barrels if that'd keep the natives happy.
When I think of Jamaica (which isn't very often) I think of lazy good for nothings idling in the sun, drinking alcohol, smoking cannabis and occasionally knifing/shooting each other. Reparations ?? I wouldn't be against sending a ship stocked with r
Why not send a fleet of gunboats to Jamaica. Then round up all the moaners and take them back to Africa?
I wouldn't give them an apology or a single penny.
Cheeky buggers.
Why not send a fleet of gunboats to Jamaica. Then round up all the moaners and take them back to Africa?I wouldn't give them an apology or a single penny.Cheeky buggers.
Jamaica has been responsible for so much international crime and misery for decades, but (surprise, surprise) it's all Britain's fault.
What sort of supposed proud, free, independent country wants to keep thrusting the begging bowl before the former colonial master?
Jamaica has been responsible for so much international crime and misery for decades, but (surprise, surprise) it's all Britain's fault. What sort of supposed proud, free, independent country wants to keep thrusting the begging bowl before the former
we must owe the far east countires trillions then since they are the slaves of the modern world .
Do Jamaicans buy from the current sweat shop countries or is that against their principles ?
we must owe the far east countires trillions then since they are the slaves of the modern world .Do Jamaicans buy from the current sweat shop countries or is that against their principles ?
can't we settle up with them once we've been paid out by the Romans?
and France for the Normans.
Why compensate Jamaica ? What about the African countries which lost their people ?
can't we settle up with them once we've been paid out by the Romans?and France for the Normans.Why compensate Jamaica ? What about the African countries which lost their people ?
They live in paradise. People pay big money to go on holiday there. Apart from a few idiots who go to shoot animals not many people want to go on holiday to the townships of South Africa. They've got a nerve asking for a free dinner.
They live in paradise. People pay big money to go on holiday there. Apart from a few idiots who go to shoot animals not many people want to go on holiday to the townships of South Africa. They've got a nerve asking for a free dinner.
Only racists and fascists like posy seem to think there's something wrong with compensating the descendants of people ripped from their homes, transported across an ocean and sold, then worked to death.
who are their descendants ?
you think just black people in Jamaica?
millions of white people are descended from black slaves , it was 8+ generations ago . 30,000 + black people in Britain 200 years ago must have millions of descendants today , and not many of them are are black
what about people descended from slaves and slave owners ?
The whole world benefits from the slavery of 1500-1865 . Without slaves the resources of the Americas would have been too expensive to extract and so there would have been no profit and no capital to fund the industrial revolution. Most of us would be working in fields and a horse and cart would be the height of technology
Only racists and fascists like posy seem to think there's something wrong with compensating the descendants of people ripped from their homes, transported across an ocean and sold, then worked to death.who are their descendants ?you think just black
We should charge these nations for passing on the benefit of the English language that has allowed so many of their people to trade and work elsewhere to send remittances back home. Let's call it a draw,eh ?
We should charge these nations for passing on the benefit of the English language that has allowed so many of their people to trade and work elsewhere to send remittances back home. Let's call it a draw,eh ?
We should charge these nations for passing on the benefit of the English language that has allowed so many of their people to trade and work elsewhere to send remittances back home. Let's call it a draw,eh ?
We should charge these nations for passing on the benefit of the English language that has allowed so many of their people to trade and work elsewhere to send remittances back home. Let's call it a draw,eh ?
there just like the rest of the world wanting Britain to pay for something or the other.
Middle east wants us and Europe to pay for all their refugees.
Africa wants us to pay for their food (well there's always an advert on tv asking to give money)
Europe wants us to give billions a year into the pot then give us back next to nothing.
I guess Jamaica thought they might as well give it a go too.
How can you compensate? those affected have been dead at least 100+ years. Current descendants have never had any contact with their "slave" ancestors. Notice they haven't asked African countries whose inhabitants sold the slaves to the slave traders in the first place.
Tell them to fe ck off.
there just like the rest of the world wanting Britain to pay for something or the other. Middle east wants us and Europe to pay for all their refugees.Africa wants us to pay for their food (well there's always an advert on tv asking to give money)Eur
I pity you fool. Someone ugly can do something about it via plastic surgery if that is what they want. A bird with no hooters can have implants. If the desire took me I could get a penile reduction. You sir, are and will remain irredeemably stupid.
AliasI pity you fool. Someone ugly can do something about it via plastic surgery if that is what they want. A bird with no hooters can have implants. If the desire took me I could get a penile reduction. You sir, are and will remain irredeemably stup
Ah the penny has just dropped. Alias is hoping the Jamaicans get some wedge then he can start his class action on behalf of the Scots for all the good hidings the English gave them.
Ah the penny has just dropped. Alias is hoping the Jamaicans get some wedge then he can start his class action on behalf of the Scots for all the good hidings the English gave them.
Reports of Barbary raids and kidnappings of those in Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, England, Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland, and as far north as Iceland exist from between the 16th to the 19th centuries. It is estimated that between 1 million and 1.25 million Europeans were captured by pirates and sold as slaves in Tunis, Algiers and Tripoli during this time period.
Reports of Barbary raids and kidnappings of those in Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, England, Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland, and as far north as Iceland exist from between the 16th to the 19th centuries. It is estimated that between 1 million and 1.
Curious that Jamaica should be so vocal and sensitive about an issue that ended hundreds of years ago, but seemingly relaxed about Homosexuality still being a crime there.
Curious that Jamaica should be so vocal and sensitive about an issue that ended hundreds of years ago, but seemingly relaxed about Homosexuality still being a crime there. .https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Jamaica
Hasn't Cameron just announced a £300 million development package to fund infrastructure projects in the Caribbean?
Re WW2 - haven't you heard of the Marshall Plan?Hasn't Cameron just announced a £300 million development package to fund infrastructure projects in the Caribbean?
Cecil Gutzmore at the University of the West Indies has written that religious fundamentalists believe that the Bible variously declares homosexuality to be an "abomination", a "vile affection", "unseemly", "not natural", or a "form of ungodliness". Those who commit this great sin are thus unequivocally construed ... as legitimate subjects to be punished by terminal violence, a fate not only dealt out directly by God Himself but, presumably, also by those regarding themselves as His faithful servants and the possible agents of His will. These persons feel a kind of righteous justification for ... acting violently on God's behalf against perceived homosexuals and homosexuality. ... In Jamaica metaphorical stones enthusiastically and destructively cast take the form of homophobic song lyrics, passionate sermons, and parliamentary and party conference speeches that voice a refusal to liberalize anti-homosexuality laws.[39]
The above extracted from the article on Lgbt rights in Jamaica posted by Alun 2005
These same religious people might like to reflect that in the very same Bible their God approves of slavery. there are many references in Deuteronomy and Leviticus, an example being in Leviticus 25. I'm sure many people who profited from slavery at the time used these verses to justify their deeds.
Cecil Gutzmore at the University of the West Indies has written that religious fundamentalists believe that the Bible variously declares homosexuality to be an "abomination", a "vile affection", "unseemly", "not natural", or a "form of ungodliness".T
The UK is to spend £25m on building a prison in Jamaica so that foreign criminals in the UK can be sent home to serve sentences in the Caribbean. More than 600 Jamaican nationals are in UK jails but cannot be deported because of Jamaica's poor prison conditions.
600 odd Jamaican lags costing UK taxpayers approx £40K per inmate per year, a Jamaica prison idea could pay for itself in a year or so. ££
Dave has come up with a good one:The UK is to spend £25m on building a prison in Jamaica so that foreign criminals in the UK can be sent home to serve sentences in the Caribbean.More than 600 Jamaican nationals are in UK jails but cannot be deported
I don't think any amount of money can justifiably recompense the damage caused by slavery and the empire.
That's alright then because you're not getting any.
I don't think any amount of money can justifiably recompense the damage caused by slavery and the empire.That's alright then because you're not getting any.
Instead Britons should be forced to walk about with I am a **** tattooed on their heads.
Do I look Jamaican to you, you silly tw@t. You didn't quote the rest of it:Instead Britons should be forced to walk about with I am a **** tattooed on their heads.
JBNAY JBNAY 29 Sep 15 20:48 Joined: 26 Jan 11 | Topic/replies: 937 | Blogger: JBNAY's blog Alias hoping for a payout, NAP
As it happens, on checking the website mentioned earlier I found that a distant relative had been compensated for "loss of property".
Do all the right wingers here simply think that anything carried out in the past under the banner of "British interests" or "empire building" is OK then? It's jolly fine to destroy the lives of countless indigenous and native peoples 'cos you want their land/gold/silver/diamonds/spices/tobacco/opium etc etc etc?
JBNAYJBNAY 29 Sep 15 20:48 Joined: 26 Jan 11 | Topic/replies: 937 | Blogger: JBNAY's blogAlias hoping for a payout, NAPAs it happens, on checking the website mentioned earlier I found that a distant relative had been compensated for "loss of property
If it wasn't for slavery these people trying to claim would not have been born.
Their ancestors mingled with other slaves that they would never have met otherwise. Then they breed with others in same position etc etc and so on so forth.
So not 1 of them would have been born without it.
Don't think anyone is defending slavery, but not only black people from Africa has suffered this. It has been widespread through out human history. (one of the largest blot on the copybook of the human species)
These people need to get rid of the chip on their shoulder and move forward in life. Not 1 of them has ever suffered at the hands of slavery or seen any of the suffering.
If any of those slaves where still alive etc then yes compensation would be appropriate. But they are not
If it wasn't for slavery these people trying to claim would not have been born.Their ancestors mingled with other slaves that they would never have met otherwise. Then they breed with others in same position etc etc and so on so forth.So not 1 of the
Dr Crippen 29 Sep 15 20:30 Joined: 16 Apr 02 | Topic/replies: 20,479 | Blogger: Dr Crippen's blog Phew Alias, you're too sharp for me tonight
Not a surprise.
'twas you who missed it, dolt.
Dr CrippenDr Crippen29 Sep 15 20:30Joined: 16 Apr 02| Topic/replies: 20,479 | Blogger: Dr Crippen's blogPhew Alias, you're too sharp for me tonightNot a surprise. 'twas you who missed it, dolt.
I see that Alias has really got a bee in his bonnet over this. He's calling everybody names now.
You can see that chip on his shoulder a mile away. What is it with these people?
I see that Alias has really got a bee in his bonnet over this. He's calling everybody names now. You can see that chip on his shoulder a mile away. What is it with these people?
I was about to say that this could be an early Christmas for the no-win-no-fee brigade.
If they get my Nectar card details I'll be expecting a deluge of calls and texts as I do like a bit of Levi Roots' Reggae Reggae sauce.
I was about to say that this could be an early Christmas for the no-win-no-fee brigade.If they get my Nectar card details I'll be expecting a deluge of calls and texts as I do like a bit of Levi Roots' Reggae Reggae sauce.
If we got in a ring and they carried you out feet first after nine rounds would it comfort you when you came round to tell people you won the third round?
I'm not a Britnat. I voted for Scottish independence. I'm making allowances for your distressed and emotional state because I know you've got a wound which festers but then that's democracy for you. You got another pasting. You're just going to have to suck it up because despite the campaign which was very well run by the independents you lost.
You got that? You LOST.
Bannockburn Alias?If we got in a ring and they carried you out feet first after nine rounds would it comfort you when you came round to tell people you won the third round? I'm not a Britnat. I voted for Scottish independence. I'm making allowances
Our friends in the middle east and africa think slavery is a good idea. So lets not rock the boat and upset certain cultures. Lets be understanding and sympathetic to the idea.
Our friends in the middle east and africa think slavery is a good idea. So lets not rock the boat and upset certain cultures. Lets be understanding and sympathetic to the idea.
Best thing we can do for Jamaica would be to allow free trade so they can compete. That means for example ending UK farm subsidies, ending the trade tariffs with non-EU countries, and letting local authorities licence premises for recreational drug consumption if they want to.
Best thing we can do for Jamaica would be to allow free trade so they can compete.That means for example ending UK farm subsidies, ending the trade tariffs with non-EU countries, and letting local authorities licence premises for recreational drug co
In case you hadn't noticed Eo, this is a thread about reparations for slavery, not another excuse for you to fib about voting Yes.
There are many very rich people in the UK whose families became rich on free labour, that is slavery. They became suddenly richer still when their government decided to compensate THEM for the loss of "property" when abolition was introduced. Why should the descendants of those slave owners continue to accumulate wealth which grew from slavery, while the mass of the slaves' descendants live in poverty? So much could be done, starting with building schools and hospitals. Germany paid for the excesses of the Nazis after all. Cameron and co should dig deep too.
When slavery was abolished in the West Indies, former slave holders were paid reparations. If you owned slaves, the British Government saw it as only fair that you were compensated for the inconvenience of no longer benefiting from free labour.
The former slaves got nothing. They were forced to work for free for a period of time, so as to give the former slave holders a chance to catch themselves. The former slaves were left to catch their tails.
This arrangement was not called slavery because even though you were forced to work for nothing, the people you worked for had to give you nothing. At least as a slave they threw you scraps of food and cloth.
The Jews received reparations from Germany after World War 2. First Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion argued that the reparation demand was based on recovering as much Jewish property as possible "so that the murderers do not become the heirs as well". He also argued that the reparations were needed to finance the absorption and rehabilitation of the Holocaust survivors in Israel.
There was no financing of the rehabilitation of the victims of slavery. Just like the Jews, we must not forget our own Holocaust. And we must always seek to ensure that those who built empires on our backs do not get away with a free ride. -
In case you hadn't noticed Eo, this is a thread about reparations for slavery, not another excuse for you to fib about voting Yes. There are many very rich people in the UK whose families became rich on free labour, that is slavery. They became sudde
Dr Crippen 30 Sep 15 15:16 Joined: 16 Apr 02 | Topic/replies: 20,523 | Blogger: Dr Crippen's blog I see that Alias has really got a bee in his bonnet over this. He's calling everybody names now.
You can see that chip on his shoulder a mile away. What is it with these people?
A bee in my bonnet because I believe in fairness and justice for all? I understand that amy be an alien concept to you, Crippen. If you can recognise me by a chip on my shoulder, should I know you by your black shirt?
Dr Crippen30 Sep 15 15:16Joined: 16 Apr 02| Topic/replies: 20,523 | Blogger: Dr Crippen's blogI see that Alias has really got a bee in his bonnet over this. He's calling everybody names now.You can see that chip on his shoulder a mile away. What is i
I'd recognise you with the half brick in your hand. Selling your house btw? Can I advise you to give Michelle Thomson a miss. Unravelling by the day Alias.
I'd recognise you with the half brick in your hand. Selling your house btw? Can I advise you to give Michelle Thomson a miss.Unravelling by the day Alias.
Tut tut. Still calling people names because they don't agree with you?
Well you're not getting any money and that's that.
should I know you by your black shirt? Tut tut.Still calling people names because they don't agree with you?Well you're not getting any money and that's that.
You have to laugh at comments like I believe in fairness and justice for all
Where do you draw the line? How far back in history should we go. I hope Genghis Khan invested wisely.
You have to laugh at comments like I believe in fairness and justice for allWhere do you draw the line? How far back in history should we go. I hope Genghis Khan invested wisely.