The Foreign Office has furiously denied reports that a meeting has been planned to discuss slavery reparations with Caribbean officials who are demanding trillions of pounds from Britain.
Members of the Reparations Commission of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) are planning to travel to the UK in April, sources told the Daily Telegraph.
It reported that a meeting has been planned as part of the Caricom delegation of officials and political leaders who will restate demands for reparations.
The trip is being overseen by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley who has said Britain owes her country £3.9 trillion, and previously put Sir Keir Starmer under pressure during a Commonwealth Heads of Government summit in Samoa last year.
She previously told the United Nations reparations for slavery and colonialism should be part of a new ‘global reset’. Caricom represents 15 member states including Jamaica, Barbados and Granada.
But yesterday the Foreign Office hit back at the reports and said there was no plan for a ministerial meeting and that no date had been set for a UK-Caricom meeting.
A spokesman said: ‘Our position remains that we do not pay reparations.’
Sources close to Foreign Secretary David Lammy also denied the reports.
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, left, has said Britain owes her country £3.9 trillion, and previously put Sir Keir Starmer, right, under pressure during a Commonwealth Heads of Government summit in Samoa
The Foreign Office hit back at the reports and said there was no plan for a ministerial meeting and that no date had been set for a UK-Caricom meeting
The Foreign Secretary has previously voiced support for reparations before, while he was in Opposition. In 2020 he said there was a need for a ‘reckoning’ with Britain’s colonial past.
The Mail on Sunday previously revealed that slavery reparations would be on the table at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa in October 2024.
Campaigners have called for £200billion in reparations, with some demanding many multiples of that sum.
In the statement, Commonwealth leaders agreed that the ‘time has come’ for a discussion on the matter, more than 200 years after the slave trade was abolished by the UK parliament.
Campaigners have called for £200billion in reparations, with some demanding many multiples of that sum.
The Foreign Secretary, pictured, has previously voiced support for reparations before, while he was in Opposition
The UK fought hard to exclude direct language about reparatory justice in the communique, but Commonwealth leaders said in a statement that the ‘time has come’ for a discussion on the matter.
Repatriations for slavery can include financial reparations as well as ‘non-cash’ options such as debit relief, an official apology and educational programmes.
A Foreign Office spokesman said the reports of an upcoming meeting were ‘false and misleading. There is no planned delegation of Caribbean leaders or officials in the Spring and our position remains that we do not pay reparations.’
They added there are ‘no dates set for any future UK-CARICOM meeting.’
