Michael Murphy: Britain already atoned for slavery by ending it - National Post
Copy URL Facebook Linked In X (Twitter) Loading account options Sign In Manage Account Close account menu Sign Out Britain's King Charles III (L) speaks with Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham as they attend the Commonwealth Business Forum at the Sticky Wicket Cricket Ground in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, on Nov. 2, 2026. (KIN CHEUNG / POOL/AFP via Getty Images) By Michael Murphy November 3, 2026 at 6:00 a.m. Last Updated: November 3, 2026 at 11:35 a.m. It’s that sound again. Every two years, the leaders of Commonwealth states gather, ostensibly to strengthen ties among a club made up mostly of Britain’s former colonies. In recent decades, the summit has become an opportunity for some of those countries to attempt to shake down Britain for its role in the transatlantic slave trade; Jamaica, Barbados, and Antigua and Barbuda are among around a dozen nations calling for billions in compensation.
U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham joined King Charles in Antigua and Barbuda on Monday for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM), what campaigners have called the “reparations Chogm.” British governments have tended to avoid discussing the issue and have never entertained the idea of financial reparations.
One exception came in 2006, when then-Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed “deep sorrow and regret” over the slave trade, stopping short of an official apology. That sentiment was nothing new. It’s been Britain’s position since abolition in 1833, when she borrowed the equivalent of 40 per cent of her national budget to free slaves. It is also the only attitude one can adopt towards a crime in which the perpetrators and victims span every continent over millennia, and all are long dead; there is no living person who is fit to issue an apology, nor to accept one.
As Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservatives, posted last week on social media: “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 added: “If Caribbean countries are asking Britain for a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, will they also be asking the same of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade?”
African nations may one day approach the descendants of King Ghezo, Tippu Tip and other slaving dynasties for reparations, but I shan’t hold my breath.
Reparations activists labour under the view that Europeans are solely responsible for slavery, and that slavery is largely responsible for Europe’s wealth. Both positions are ahistorical and degrading for all parties — indulging the European penchant for a guilt-ridden revival of The White Man’s Burden; while engendering a sense of helplessness among erstwhile colonies.
In reality, much of Africa operated a flourishing slave trade before, during and after contact with Europeans, and the practice persists in parts of the continent today. Meanwhile, the Arab trade, which consumed nearly 20 million souls, barely gets a mention, partly because slaves were routinely castrated, leaving few potential beneficiaries of reparations. Not to mention the million-odd Europeans spirited away by North African slavers. What makes Britain unique in the history of slavery is that it had both the moral conviction and naval prowess to outlaw it around the world.
The African Union — which supported a UN resolution earlier this year demanding a shakedown of western nations via what is now euphemistically called “reparatory justice” — might also consider that since the 1960s, Africa has received more than $2 trillion in aid, the inflation-adjusted equivalent of ten Marshall Plans.
Prime Minister Burnham nonetheless believes Britain should spend more on foreign aid and apologize for centuries-old injustices. While he has rejected the possibility of reparations, he is open to increasing the financial assistance Britain offers to Commonwealth countries to atone for slavery, a policy shift that will likely be seen by many activists as a concession — reparations in all but name.
Commonwealth leaders, for their part, applauded Burnham for making an “essential first step” towards a reparations deal. They are fortunate to have found a Prime Minister whose deepest need appears to be that people should like him.
Michael Murphy is a journalist based in London. He writes for the Daily Telegraph and presented the documentary, ‘Ireland is full! Anti-Immigration backlash in Ireland.’
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