Badenoch: Britain must not pay for slavery, Africans share the blame

UK Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has rejected calls for Britain to pay reparations for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, the Daily Post reports.

Badenoch, a former Secretary of State for Business and Trade, argued that present-day British taxpayers should not be held financially responsible for injustices committed generations before they were born.

She challenged Caribbean countries seeking an apology from Britain to make similar demands of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from enslaved Africans.

“Slavery was an evil in which people from every continent and region participated. We should be honest about the whole history, not select the parts that are politically convenient today, especially given Britain’s leading role in ending the transatlantic slave trade,” she said.

She also opposed debt cancellation, saying more than $100 billion was written off 25 years ago but many beneficiary countries have since built up bigger debts.

Badenoch said Tony Blair had already expressed Britain’s sorrow and regret nearly 20 years ago, adding: “There is no need to do so again.”

She urged Commonwealth countries to focus on trade, economic development and security cooperation.