Before he entered government, Mr Lammy repeatedly called for the UK to open a dialogue on reparations.
Last month, one Caribbean leader said he should have a free hand on the issue of British compensation, estimated to be worth anything from £206 billion to £19 trillion.
Speaking in a Commons debate on June 14 2018, Mr Lammy, the son of Guyanese parents who is the Labour MP for Tottenham, said: “The Caribbean nations have been united in wanting to put the issue of reparations back on the table.
“It is important that this country hears and listens to those calls for support, particularly against a backdrop of the Government making it clear that they wish to enter into trade negotiations with those countries once again.
“Let us consider: what do reparations look like for those Caribbean nations? How do we make that work? What dialogue do we as a country need to have with those people?”
It followed a May 2018 tweet in which he declared: “In 1833 Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act. £17 billion of compensation to slave owners for the loss of their property – my ancestors.
“The slaves received no reparations. Some people simply do not know their history or do not want to know hard truths.”
His calls continued on the frontbench. As shadow justice secretary under Sir Keir Starmer, he told the Boston radio station WBUR-FM in 2020: “The starting point is truth and reconciliation… we’re no longer in a society where we question notions like white privilege.
“And then we get to a point where we have to discuss power and reckoning and repairing – and that to some extent is obviously financial, and involves endowments.”