Commonwealth leaders have agreed the “time has come” for a conversation about reparations for the slave trade, despite the UK’s desire to keep the subject off the agenda at a two-day summit in Samoa.
A document signed by 56 heads of government, including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, acknowledges calls for “discussions on reparatory justice” for the “abhorrent” transatlantic slave trade.
The statement says it is time for a “meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation”.
Sir Keir said there had been no discussions about money at the meeting, and that the UK is “very clear” in its position that it would not pay reparations.
The UK has faced growing calls from Commonwealth leaders to apologise and pay reparations for the country’s historical role in the slave trade.
Reparations for the benefit of those who suffered as a result of slavery could take many forms, from financial to symbolic.
Ahead of the summit, Downing Street had insisted the issue would not be on the agenda.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Sir Keir said Commonwealth leaders had a “positive two days” in Samoa and downplayed the prominence of reparations at the summit.
“The dominant theme of the two days has been resilience and climate,” he said, adding that the section of the joint statement discussing reparations amounts to “one paragraph in 20-something paragraphs”.
“None of the discussions have been about money. Our position is very, very clear in relation to that,” he said.
Last week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves told the BBC the UK would not pay reparations for slavery.
Position ‘not changing’
Before the statement was released, the leaders’ conclave – where commonwealth prime ministers and presidents meet without advisers – went on for about six hours.
The prime minister said it was not the conversation about reparations that had caused it to run on for so long.
One Downing Street source told the BBC: “We’ve been clear on our position and it’s not changing.”
And they have and it hasn’t – in fact the direct nature of their remarks about reparations on the way to the summit irritated some of those countries campaigning on it.
Half of the art of diplomacy is to keep things you want to talk about being talked about – keeping the conversation going, even if the prospect of imminent change is unlikely.
For those who think the time has come for countries like the UK to face up to their pasts, the communique allows them to say the conversation continues.
For the UK and others, they can say their position isn’t changing and also point to a range of other topics – trade, climate change and security for instance – that, they argue, the Commonwealth offers a vital forum for.
However, the prime minister did appear to leave the door open for further discussions about some form of reparatory justice, saying the “next opportunity to look at this” would be at the UK-Caribbean forum.
Frederick Mitchell, the foreign minister of the Bahamas, said leaders hoped to come up with a “comprehensive report” on the issue at that forum, to be held in London next March.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he expected the UK would eventually pay financial reparations to Caribbean countries.
Challenged on whether the wording of the joint statement was too vague, he said: “Behind the language is an attempt to go in a particular direction.”
Diplomats have said they expect reparatory justice to be a central focus of the agenda for the next Commonwealth summit in two years’ time.
Last year, a UN judge said the UK likely owed more than £18tn in reparations for its role in slavery in 14 Caribbean countries.
But reparatory justice could also take the form of a formal apology, educational programmes or public health assistance.
One person who supports reparations is the incoming Commonwealth secretary general, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, who was appointed on Friday.
She is currently serving as Ghana’s foreign minister, and has also backed the drafting of a Commonwealth free trade agreement, according to AFP.
In a statement, Botchwey said she was “truly humbled” but emphasised that “work indeed lies ahead”.