UK-Caribbean talks planned as slavery reparations divide remains

Britain and Caribbean nations plan to begin formal talks within 12 months on the legacy of slavery, according to Commonwealth leaders cited by the Guardian. Antigua and Barbuda’s prime minister, Gaston Browne, said governments had agreed in principle to establish a framework by year-end or early next year following discussions at the Commonwealth summit.

The report says UK prime minister Andy Burnham expressed openness to an apology but rejected reparations, proposing debt discussions and £40m for Caribbean infrastructure over three years instead. Browne said Caribbean governments would raise reparations during the talks. Reparatory justice campaigners argued that development assistance and debt relief could not substitute for redress for slavery.

The Caribbean Community reparations commission’s 10-point plan seeks debt cancellation and monetary compensation, linking existing debts to colonial extraction. That differs from Britain’s proposed debt resets. Campaigner Ralph Gonsalves also warns that development assistance remains discretionary, while advocates quoted in the report stress that affected communities must help determine reparative arrangements.