Jeremy Corbyn’s intervention on the ongoing debate over slavery reparations were part of a speech delivered at the University of West Indies to commemorate the legacy of former Jamaican prime minister Michael Manley.
Calling on the British government to accept that it is morally right that it pays reparations, Corbyn said: “It is deeply ironic that one of the reasons why reparations are a so-called historic issue is precisely because the West has dithered and delayed for so long. The longer Britain continues to drag its feet, the more the case for reparations grows.
Decades of colonialism have created a profoundly unequal world that concentrates wealth and power in the hands of the global few. Reparations are about building something new and investing in healthcare, housing and education.”
It is universally understood and agreed that nations in the Global South, including Jamaica, who were victims of British colonialism, slavery and the historic atrocities of empire, are far more susceptible to the impacts of the climate crisis and that historic injustices have played a role in the current existence of inabilities to build resilience and preparedness for severe weather and climate events. It is also widely recognised that nations in the Global South have contributed least to the climate breakdown but risk paying the heaviest price of the Global North’s refusal to tackle the most severe threat to human existence and survival on Earth.
Concluding his speech in Kingston, Jeremy Corbyn said: “Reparations are about truth and they are about justice – and that means recognising this nation’s role in crimes against humanity, no matter how uncomfortable that process of reflection may be. An important part of that reflection is acknowledging the following truth: Britain’s foundations were built off the backs of others – of generations of enslaved and colonial subjects.”