Grenada demands Bank of England pay reparations for its ownership of slave plantations

GRENADA IS demanding the Bank of England pay reparations for its ownership of slave plantations. According to a report in The Telegraph, the government of Grenada has delivered a letter to Andrew Bailey, the Bank’s governor calling for it to atone for its “enslavement of Africans”. The Bank owned almost 600 enslaved African people on Grenada in the 18th Century. A letter received by Bailey and seen by the newspaper states: “The Government of Grenada calls upon the Bank of England to make reparations to Grenada on account of the direct involvement of the Bank of England in the 1780s in the enslavement of Africans and their descendants in Grenada.” ‘Immeasurable suffering’ It continues, and states that “the enslavement of Africans in Caribbean colonies including Grenada was atrocious.” It goes on: “The work regime, punishments inflicted both physically and psychologically, and the immeasurable suffering endured have multiplier effects on our current populations of African descent.” In March 2023, the Grenada National Reparations Commission (GNRC) told the Caribbean nation’s government that Grenadians both living in the country and in the diaspora should not to forget the horrors of slavery. Chairman of the GNRC, Arley Gill, told the newspaper: “The Bank of...