Should UK pay reparations to Jamaica for slavery?

gregbrighton · Sep 29, 2015

Guardian news

I think it is a fair point. The axis powers had to pay reparations for the World Wars so I don't see why Caribbean nations should not be entitled (as the dog with the bandaged ear on the telly says) to some form of compensation. Does it have to be cash though? Perhaps Jamaica would accept 'erbs....

sir albion · Sep 29, 2015

This is bloody ridiculous and Cameron needs shooting...We done a lot of good in these countries and should not be punished for something that happened 300 years ago.
We contributed to their economy until they left in the 60's....If Jamaica get these billions then other countries will follow suit.

GT49er · Sep 29, 2015

Absolute nonsense. We could offer free one-way packages back to West Africa, I suppose........................

Perhaps, though, they should be paying us for putting an end to the slave trade, banning slavery here, and enforcing the ban on slave trading on other nations who wanted to carry on with it too.
Meanwhile we'd better get on with rebutting that claim from Spain for the wanton destruction of their nice shiny armada.................

GT49er · Sep 29, 2015

sir albion said:
This is bloody ridiculous and Cameron needs shooting....

To be fair, I don't think Cameron is in favour of paying them.

symyjym · Sep 29, 2015

gregbrighton said:
Guardian news

I think it is a fair point. The axis powers had to pay reparations for the World Wars so I don't see why Caribbean nations should not be entitled (as the dog with the bandaged ear on the telly says) to some form of compensation. Does it have to be cash though? Perhaps Jamaica would accept 'erbs....

Jamaica isn't a bad place to end up and inherit, and if they had a choice to go back to Africa or stay in Jamaica I am sure that most, if not all, of them would stay put.

They say that good things come out of adversity, and it could be argued that if it wasn't for WWII there would be no Israel and Jewish land :shrug:

Might be a bit too deep for this topic though.

Publius Ovidius · Sep 29, 2015

I think we should apply to Rome for reparations for all the thousands of ancients Brits that were taken to Rome and other parts of the empire as slaves too.

carlzeiss · Sep 29, 2015

If it wasn't for the slave trade the Jamaicans may well still be in Africa . Would say they have much to be grateful for .

sir albion · Sep 29, 2015

GT49er said:
To be fair, I don't think Cameron is in favour of paying them.

He will though...
Many Jamaicans say we hindered the Jamaican education back then....well our education was as bad,so that's a load of bull shite.
We let many thousands settle here and done many good things..slavery was rife in most countries throughout time.

drew · Sep 29, 2015

Obviously slavery wasn't a great life but can they demonstrate that they are in a worse position now than if they had remained in Africa. I doubt it. If not, how would you even measure the value. And the next thing is where do you stop. The French must owe us a packet for all the wars we have had. The Swedes/Norwegians and Danes raped and pillaged, the Romans etc did nothing for us (except of course for the roads, sanitation and the aquaduct!). Perhaps we should sort out what we can get from those nations before we let Jamaica have a share.

I suspect these are merely smokescreens from the Jamaican politicians who can't sort out their current mess so have to blame someone else.

El Presidente · Sep 29, 2015

I work in the Caribbean quite often and central government there is very inefficient. Strikes me as a populist plea that will endear some politicians to local voters whilst having a close to zero chance of ever taking place.

severnside gull · Sep 29, 2015

I'm not opposed to it but of course I fully expect the African nations that enslaved then sold them to British, American, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portugese and others to make similar reparation at the same time.j

We are sometimes overly fond of rewriting history solely to our own detriment.

lawros left foot · Sep 29, 2015

Can't we invoice the present Jamaican Government for the free passage across the Atlantic, and free accommodation that their forefathers enjoyed, all at the expense of our poor slavers. Think how rich this country would be now if we had charged them the going rate, at the time

pastafarian · Sep 29, 2015

i want compensation for all the bad decisions i have made whilst drinking Red Stripe.......i want my dignity restored !

Bold Seagull · Sep 29, 2015

carlzeiss said:
If it wasn't for the slave trade the Jamaicans may well still be in Africa . Would say they have much to be grateful for .

very good.

Bold Seagull · Sep 29, 2015

and we wonder why inheritance tax has been reduced...

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.

Thunder Bolt · Sep 29, 2015

severnside gull said:
I'm not opposed to it but of course I fully expect the African nations that enslaved then sold them to British, American, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portugese and others to make similar reparation at the same time.j

We are sometimes overly fond of rewriting history solely to our own detriment.

That was the first thought that came to me. West Africans went into their interior to capture other tribes to sell.
Egyptians, Persians Romans, & Greeks etc all had slaves as did tribes capturing others as spoils of war.

Britain was at the forefront of abolishing slavery starting with William Wilberforce.

gregbrighton · Sep 29, 2015

lawros left foot said:
Can't we invoice the present Jamaican Government for the free passage across the Atlantic, and free accommodation that their forefathers enjoyed, all at the expense of our poor slavers. Think how rich this country would be now if we had charged them the going rate, at the time

wellquickwoody · Sep 29, 2015

gregbrighton said:
Guardian news

I think it is a fair point. The axis powers had to pay reparations for the World Wars so I don't see why Caribbean nations should not be entitled (as the dog with the bandaged ear on the telly says) to some form of compensation. Does it have to be cash though? Perhaps Jamaica would accept 'erbs....

Why don't you put forward the idea that the Scandinavians should pay for their warring activities on our shores through the dark/middle ages? See how far you get with that one!

Anyone perpetuating the myth that we have some moral obligation to atone for our distant forefathers actions has a screw loose. As others have mentioned, places like the West Indies, India and others have actually benefitted in the long term from the British Empire should we ask these nations to now pay for the infrastructure that was built under British rule?

And the liberal hand wringers like the OP who continue spread these moral campaigns are actually making it more likely by making their drivel seem acceptable, leading to our own population becoming less affluent as they pay for these reparations. They should remember that you need to keep those around you onside, not alienated by giving their hard earned lifestyle away from under their nose.

symyjym · Sep 29, 2015

Couldn't imagine the world without Bob Marley.

Bry Nylon · Sep 29, 2015

El Presidente said:
I work in the Caribbean quite often...

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