Slavery reparations are not on the agenda, says Labour

Reparations for Britain’s role in the slave trade are “not on the agenda”, Downing Street has said in the run-up to a major summit. Leaders of Commonwealth nations will meet later this month, and all three candidates vying to become the next secretary-general of the 56 nations headed by King Charles have supported making amends financially for transatlantic slavery and colonialism. But No 10 said that reparations would not be paid, despite previous calls for them by David Lammy, the foreign secretary. Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, and the King will meet with other leaders at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Samoa. Starmer meeting Londoners on Windrush Day earlier this year CARL COURT/GETTY IMAGES The King is the ceremonial head of the Commonwealth, whose members include west African and Caribbean countries affected by the slave trade. About ten million people were enslaved by Britain and European nations between the 15th and 19th centuries and sent to work on plantations across the Atlantic in the Caribbean and the Americas. Lammy has previously said that “hard truths” need to be told about slavery and reparations should be paid to those in the Windrush generation. “I’m afraid as Caribbean...