Starmer must not cave to Commonwealth demands for reparations

The Commonwealth leaders’ summit in Samoa is a landmark occasion. As well as it being the first CHOGM in a Pacific Island nation (Vanuatu was unable to host the 2017 gathering following the devastation of Cyclone Pam), it will be the first which is presided over by King Charles III as Head of the Commonwealth. The leadership of the Commonwealth will be a major talking point of the leaders’ summit, with the Association’s Secretary General, Baroness (Patricia) Scotland stepping down. All three candidates vying to replace her – Ghanaian foreign minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Gambian foreign minister Mamadou Tangara, and Senator Joshua Sepita of Lesotho – have expressed their support for “reparatory justice” (the payment of financial reparations for slavery and colonialism). While the UK’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is facing domestic and foreign pressure to open talks on reparations at the Commonwealth leaders’ summit, he must not cave in to them. The UK Government is correct to say reparations are not on the agenda and that it has no plans to make such payments. It has also said that there will be no apology issued at the summit for the transatlantic slave trade – this position should be...