The king and queen’s visit to the former colony is the first by members of the Dutch royal family in nearly five decades
The Dutch king, Willem-Alexander, vowed on Monday that the topic of slavery would not be off-limits as he visits former colony Suriname, where the practice ended just over 150 years ago.
The king arrived in the capital Paramaribo on Sunday with Queen Maxima, a week after the small South American country marked 50 years of independence from the Netherlands.
Continue reading...On first official visit to UK, leaders say aim is not to ‘break the British Treasury’ but to find solution to help clean up ‘mess’ left by colonialism
The Caribbean’s slavery reparations body has decried misleading press reports that suggest their aim is to “break the British Treasury” by demanding trillions of pounds, as they call for a mutually beneficial restorative justice programme.
Prof Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caricom Reparations Commission (CRC), which was set up to progress the Caribbean’s pursuit of justice for centuries of enslavement and colonisation by European nations, made the comments during the body’s first official visit to the UK.
Continue reading...Experts say finding heightens pressure on the monarchy to confront its historical links to slavery
Grenada has vowed to step up its pursuit of an apology and reparations from King Charles after new research revealed that George IV personally profited from slavery on the Caribbean island.
The research by independent scholar Desirée Baptiste shows that George IV, who ruled for a decade until 1830, received profits from enslaved labour on Grenadian plantations – a finding that experts say heightens pressure on the monarchy to confront its historical links to slavery.
This article was amended on 7 August 2025 to remove a description of George IV as an ancestor of King Charles. George IV was Charles’s 4th great-granduncle but not a direct ancestor.
Continue reading...Hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans were shipped to the Caribbean island when it was a colony of the UK
Jamaica will ask King Charles to request legal advice on the issue of slavery reparations from the judicial committee of the privy council, the final court of appeal for UK overseas territories and some Commonwealth nations.
Under the Judicial Committee Act of 1833, the king, who remains Jamaica’s head of state after the country gained independence from Britain in 1962, has the authority to refer matters to the council for consideration.
Continue reading...France imposed harsh ‘ransom’ after revolution that campaigners say stunted Caribbean country’s development
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has announced a joint commission with Haiti to examine the countries’ shared past as Haitian campaigners demand a reimbursement of billions of dollars worth of “ransom” paid to France.
Macron announced his intention to create the commission as campaigners renewed calls for reparations on the bicentenary of an agreement to pay 150m francs to France in 1825 to compensate slave-owning colonists after the Haitian Revolution.
Continue reading...Remains brought to Britain as part of colonialism, such as Egyptian mummies, should be repatriated, a report says
The public display of human remains in the UK, including the ancient Egyptian mummies in the British Museum, is offensive and should be stopped, according to a group of MPs.
A report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Afrikan Reparations (APPG-AR) said it should become an offence to sell ancestral remains or publicly display them without consent.
Continue reading...Postal Museum says research featured in new exhibition shows how global postal service was ‘tool of empire’
A British shipping company that became the largest in the world at the height of empire continued to use the labour of enslaved people after the abolition of slavery, research has found.
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company (RMSPC), which received a royal charter from Queen Victoria in 1839, used enslaved workers on the tiny island of St Thomas, which was a Danish colony at the time and is now part of the US Virgin Islands.
Continue reading...The maritime group, founded in 1760 by merchants and underwriters, issued the apology after commissioning research into its links to slavery
Lloyd’s Register, the maritime and industrial group owned by one of Britain’s biggest charities, has apologised for its role in the trafficking of enslaved African people but has been criticised for not going far enough.
Founded in 1760 as the Society for the Registry of Shipping by merchants and underwriters who met at Edward Lloyd’s coffee house in Lombard Street in London, the company provided classification for ships.
Continue reading...Joint project between Guardian and city’s Science and Industry Museum will open in early 2027
The role transatlantic enslavement played in shaping Manchester is at the heart of a new exhibition developed in partnership by the Guardian and the city’s Science and Industry Museum.
The exhibition is the first time the museum, which tells the story of Manchester’s transformation into the world’s first industrial city, has put the links between enslaved African people, cotton and the city at the centre of a display.
Continue reading...US president remembers ‘stolen men and women and children brought to our shores’ and lauds American investment in country
Joe Biden addressed America’s history of enslavement in a speech on Tuesday at Angola’s National Museum of Slavery, calling it “our nation’s original sin” during a trip in which he also lauded recent US investment in the region.
“We remember the stolen men and women and children who were brought to our shores in chains, subjected to unimaginable cruelty,” Biden said, as the sun set over the water behind him.
Continue reading...Celebrated authors discuss the somewhat connected stories of their shared surname at literary event in Rio
Born more than 5,500 miles apart, the Booker prize winner Bernardine Evaristo, 65, and Brazil’s most celebrated living Black author, Conceição Evaristo, 77, share the same surname, though they are – as far as is known – unrelated.
But their surnames’ stories are somewhat connected, and shed light on aspects of the history of Brazil, the country that received the largest number of enslaved Africans during the transatlantic slave trade.
Continue reading...Report looked into donations to Nottingham universities by Jesse Boot, who expanded pharmacy chain
The high-street pharmacy Boots’s links to the transatlantic slave trade have been revealed in new research that shows how the proceeds of enslavement became entangled with British capitalism.
Jesse Boot, the son of the company’s founder, expanded the chemist with the help of banks and premises linked to slavery. He was not identified as involved in the enslavement of people, the trade of enslaved people or trade in goods made by enslaved people.
Continue reading...UK government stresses it does not pay reparations and said before Chogm summit that issue was not on agenda
Commonwealth leaders have resolved that “the time has come” for a conversation on reparatory justice despite the UK’s insistence that the issue was not on their agenda.
The language, agreed at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) on Saturday, is a blow to the UK, which wanted to avoid reparatory justice being mentioned.
Continue reading...Ghana’s foreign minister since 2017, Botchwey supports calls for reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism
Commonwealth members have appointed Ghana’s foreign minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, as the new secretary general, on the final day of the group’s summit in Samoa.
Botchwey, a former lawmaker who has served as Ghana’s foreign minister since 2017, has supported calls for reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism – a position that was also shared by the two other candidates who had vied for the position.
Continue reading...PM hinted at tax rises for those who earn income from shares and property, saying they did not fit his definition of ‘working people’
Downing Street is blocking moves to include a ban on smoking outdoors in the upcoming Tobacco and Vapes bill amid fierce opposition by the hospitality trade.
No 10 officials privately believe that banning people from lighting up in pub gardens is “an unserious” policy and is not backed by good evidence showing that it harms non-smokers.
Continue reading...Former chancellor says ‘increasing borrowing means interest rates would be higher for longer’ as Reeves says it will ‘make space for investment’
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has said that “no one knows” who Robert Jenrick, the Tory leadership contender, is.
Of the two candidates left in the contest, Jenrick is the one who is doing most to appeal to Tories who defected to Reform UK, because he is saying Britain should leave the European convention on human rights.
I know the fella. Is he the chap that one day was on the very much on the left of the Conservative party and is now on the right of the Conservative Party?... No one knows who he is.
I’m sure government can agree that support and providing opportunities for young people should be central to the policy of any government. We are glad to see the government working to build closer economic and cultural ties with Europe. We want to forge a new partnership with our European neighbours, built on cooperation, not confrontation and move to a new comprehensive agreement.
We must build rebuild confidence through seeking to agree partnerships or associations helping to restore prosperity and opportunities for British people.
We are not going to give a running commentary on the negotiations. We will obviously look at EU proposals on a range of issues, but we are clear that we will not return to freedom of movement.
Continue reading...Starmer under pressure from Caribbean countries at Commonwealth talks but is refusing payments or apology
Keir Starmer has opened the door to non-financial reparations for the UK’s role in the transatlantic enslavement, as he came under pressure from Commonwealth leaders to engage in a “meaningful, truthful and respectful” conversation about Britain’s past.
While Downing Street insists that the wider issue of reparations is “not on the agenda” of this week’s Commonwealth heads of government (Chogm) gathering in Samoa, No 10 has accepted it is likely to be referenced in the end-of-summit communique.
Continue reading...Call from head of Caribbean reparations body comes as Bahamas foreign minister claims UK PM will change his position
Britain has a legal and moral case to answer over its historical role in slavery, the chair of the Caribbean’s slavery reparation commission has said, as Keir Starmer continues to reject calls to put the issue on the agenda at the Commonwealth summit.
Responding to the British prime minister’s insistence to “look forward” rather than have “very long endless discussions about reparations on the past” when he meets 55 other country leaders on Friday, the distinguished Caribbean historian Sir Hilary Beckles, who chairs the Caribbean governments’ reparations body, articulated the region’s call to the British government and institutions to “engage in a compassionate, intergenerational strategy to support postcolonial reconstruction”.
Continue reading...UK prime minister would rather work with nations on ‘future-facing challenges’ at Commonwealth summit
Keir Starmer has insisted he wants to “look forward” rather than have “very long endless discussions about reparations on the past” in his first comments on the issue before the Commonwealth summit.
The prime minister is under pressure to discuss reparatory justice with Commonwealth countries, most of which are former UK colonies, in Samoa this week.
Continue reading...Justin Welby says ancestor owned enslaved people in Jamaica and was paid compensation upon abolition
Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, has revealed that his ancestor owned enslaved people on a plantation in Jamaica and was compensated by the British government when slavery was abolished.
Welby disclosed his ancestral links in a personal statement that reiterated his commitment to addressing the enduring and damaging legacies of transatlantic slavery.
Continue reading...