UK was ‘vehement’ slavery reparations should not be on Commonwealth summit agenda

Rei Charles e Rainha Camilla com o Governador-geral de Antigua e Barbuda, Rodney Williams, e sua esposa, Sandra, após um serviço religioso no 45º aniversário do Dia da Independência de Antigua e Barbuda em 1 de novembro.

Photograph: Isabel Infantes/ReutersView image in fullscreenKing Charles and Queen Camilla with the governor general of Antigua and Barbuda, Rodney Williams, and his wife, Sandra, after a church service on the 45th anniversary of Antigua and Barbuda’s Independence Day on 1 November.

Fotografia: Isabel Infantes/Reuters Summit do Commonwealth UK foi ‘vehement’ e as reparações pela escravidão não devem estar na agenda do summit do Commonwealth Primeiro‑ministro britânico agora concordou com um diálogo estruturado sobre justiça reparatória, mas a questão permanece fora da agenda formal do Chogm.

Prefer the Guardian on GoogleBritish officials reportedly insisted that discussions of reparations for slavery should not be on the agenda of the Commonwealth leaders’ summit in Antigua and Barbuda – and even warned that Andy Burnham would not attend the meeting if the subject was formally included, according to a leading Caribbean political figure.

Ralph Gonsalves, a former prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines and a senior figure in the reparatory justice movement Repair Campaign, welcomed Britain’s decision to enter structured dialogue on reparations, but said the UK had come “kicking and screaming” to the conversation.

Currently, slavery reparations is not on the official agenda of the Commonwealth Heads of Government (Chogm) summit, which begins on Sunday.

Trade, climate resilience and finance, sustainable debt, democracy and investment in opportunities for young people are among the stated priorities for the 56-nation bloc spanning Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Americas, the Pacific and Europe.

Ver imagem em tela cheia Ralph Gonsalves disse que o governo britânico estava vindo “com os pés na porta, gritando” para a mesa de diálogo estruturado. Fotografia: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images Eles também começaram a circular essa falsidade de que a Índia não queria que estivesse na agenda, mas isso não era verdade.

India was very supportive at the UN general assembly resolution on March 25th, 2026. So they were spreading this false word about India.”.

Gonsalves said that the relentless campaign by Caribbean nations, amplified by a growing regional and global reparations movement, has propelled reparatory justice to the heart of the political conversation at the meeting.

He added: “The danger of not putting it formally on the agenda is what we see happening now, that everybody who could have foreseen, whether or not it’s formally on the agenda, even the nature of how the discussions take place at the Commonwealth, and certainly in the retreats, it would have been raised.”.

View image in fullscreenIrfaan Ali, Guyana’s president, who met King Charles this week in Georgetown, said he was happy ‘the discourse has moved to a position where it should have been’.

Photograph: Chris Jackson/PAGonsalves said while the actual structured dialoguewas unlikely to happen at Chogm, it was expected that when the leaders met in their private retreat, the format and details of the dialogue would be discussed.

He said: “The British government, they’re coming, kicking and screaming to the table of structured dialogue. But at least they’re coming.”.

Um porta-voz do FCDO disse: “Rejeitamos categoricamente essa acusação completamente falsa. O Reino Unido abordou esta conversa de boa fé, e em nenhum momento informamos a qualquer outro membro do Chogm o que não deveria estar na agenda.”.

Read moreProf Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Reparations Commission, had described the meeting as “the Chogm of reparations”, adding that reparatory justice was “the number one item” for the Caribbean as Commonwealth leaders gather in the region.

Na sexta-feira, houve uma mudança histórica na posição da Grã-Bretanha quando o primeiro‑ministro britânico foi além de qualquer de seus predecessores ao concordar com um diálogo estruturado e considerar uma desculpa.

Embora os governos caribenhos e os campanhantes tenham recebido com entusiasmo o anúncio de Burnham, feito em um artigo de opinião para o Guardian, ficou claro que concordar sobre formas de reparação ainda era uma prioridade para a região.

Guyana’s president, Irfaan Ali, welcomed Burnham’s statement and called for a Commonwealth subcommittee to work out the details of the dialogue over the next six to 12 months.

Ali said the talks should move beyond attempting to put a price on the indignity of slavery and towards addressing its developmental consequences.

Ver imagem em tela cheia Mia Mottley, a primeira‑ministra de Barbados, disse sobre Burnham: “Nossas opiniões diferem.” Fotografia: Andrea de Silva/Reuters Como identificamos um sistema de apoio onde o governo do Reino Unido, com suas instituições financeiras, pode se reunir com países.

and work on a development pathway, identify development gaps, whether in health, education, social services, infrastructure?”.

Barbados’s prime minister, Mia Mottley, thanked Burnham for “breaking new ground”, while making clear that the two sides remained divided. “On reparations in particular, our views differ, and we will say so plainly and respectfully,” she said.

Mottley identificou uma desculpa, investimento em saúde e educação, combate à pobreza e desigualdade sistêmica e condições de dívida mais justas como áreas onde poderia ser alcançado um acordo.

View image in fullscreenPhilip Davis, the prime minister of the Bahamas, Bahamas, stressed the importance of ‘justice, acknowledgment and meaningful address’. Photograph: Chris Jackson/ReutersThe Bahamas prime minister, Philip Davis, said the talks were not simply about “historical remembrance” but “the enduring consequences of slavery and the importance of justice, acknowledgment and meaningful redress”.

À medida que a reunião começa no domingo, 45º aniversário da independência de Antigua e Barbuda do domínio colonial britânico, o Rei Charles indica que não seguirá Burnham e oferecerá um pedido de desculpas completo, ainda há a sensação de que a luta por reparações está longe de terminar.

Read moreKing Charles and Burnham will be greeted with protests as they travel through Antigua’s capital, St John’s, to attend Chogm events.

Em outdoors, cartazes e camisetas, em cartas e em uma vigília de velas pelos milhares de africanos traficados para Antigua e Barbuda durante o comércio transatlântico de escravos, a mensagem do Caribe será clara: haverá pedidos de desculpas e reparações.

On Sunday Kemi Badenoch told broadcasters that an apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade would be a “navel-gazing distraction”, describing slavery as an evil “in which people from every continent and region participated”.