British public backs talks on reparations

A significant proportion of the British public believes their government should meet Caribbean nations to discuss reparatory justice, according to a new poll released ahead of next week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua and Barbuda.

The findings come as King Charles III continues a nine-day Caribbean tour, during which he has faced renewed calls for an apology and reparations for slavery, including protests during his visit to The Bahamas.

The poll, conducted by More in Common last weekend among a nationally representative sample of Great Britain and published on Tuesday by The Repair Campaign, found that 40 per cent of respondents supported a meeting between the British government and Caribbean nations on reparatory justice, while 19 per cent were undecided.

Support was strongest among younger respondents, with 60 per cent of those age 18 to 24 and 51 per cent of those age 25 to 34 backing talks. A majority of Labour and Liberal Democrat voters also supported a meeting, at 58 per cent and 57 per cent, respectively.

Denis O’Brien, founder of The Repair Campaign, said next week’s Commonwealth summit offered Britain an opportunity to begin meaningful dialogue with Caribbean leaders.

“A significant proportion of the British public wants to see the government sitting down with Caribbean nations to discuss the case for reparatory justice,” he said.

O’Brien criticised what he described as repeated expressions of regret and unfulfilled promises of dialogue, including commitments made at the previous CHOGM in Samoa.

“What is needed now is a full apology and a time-lined commitment to holding talks with Caribbean states,” he said, arguing that Britain risked alienating Commonwealth countries by refusing to engage on the issue.

The debate has gained renewed attention during Charles’ visit to The Bahamas, where protesters called for reparations as the monarch arrived in Nassau on Tuesday.

At Clifford Park, which Charles visited in 1973 as Prince of Wales to mark The Bahamas’ independence after 300 years of British rule, members of the Rastafarian community and other demonstrators demanded compensation for the atrocities of slavery.

“Pay us what you owe us!” one woman shouted.

In his first public remarks since arriving in the country, Charles acknowledged the suffering and injustices associated with the region’s past.

“It is only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of the past in these islands and beyond, even as we rejoice in the successes of the present,” he said.

However, the British government has consistently rejected demands for an apology or reparations for slavery.

Jamaica has also pursued the issue, with its case concerning reparations referred to the United Kingdom’s highest court of appeal for the island.

Charles is scheduled to leave The Bahamas for Guyana today before travelling to Antigua and Barbuda on Friday for CHOGM, where Queen Camilla will join him.

Although climate, trade and development are expected to feature prominently on the summit’s agenda, some Caribbean leaders have argued that reparatory justice should take centre stage.

The poll suggests that calls for dialogue extend beyond the Caribbean, particularly among younger Britons and supporters of the country’s two main centre-left parties.

For Caribbean leaders seeking a formal discussion on the legacy of slavery, the summit presents another opportunity to press Britain to move beyond expressions of regret and address demands for reparatory justice.

editorial@gleanerjm.com