Keir Starmer is under pressure from the Labor Party when he visits Samoa this week, urging Caribbean parliamentarians and governments to open the door to restorative justice.
The UK Prime Minister will visit the small Pacific island nation for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm), which begins on Monday.
At the summit, leaders will choose a Commonwealth secretary-general to replace former Labor minister Patricia Scotland, who has held the position since 2016. She will be succeeded by all three candidates. He called for reparations for countries affected by slavery and colonialism.
Last year, UN judge Patrick Robinson ruled that the UK owed more than £18 trillion in reparations for its historic role in slavery in 14 countries.
Successive UK governments resisted calls for reparations. Downing Street attempted to shut down the debate ahead of this week's Commonwealth summit, saying reparations were “not on the agenda”. The government this week rejected a formal apology.
But five Labor MPs told The Guardian that the UK should be open to discussing compensatory justice for its former colonies. CARICOM, a group of 15 Caribbean nations, is expected to put pressure on Starmer and the foreign secretary. On the subject of David Lammisamoa.
Bel Ribeiro-Addie, Labor MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, said: “The UK has a moral and legal obligation to address the injustices of the past. If reparations are on the Commonwealth agenda, the UK government should be prepared to discuss them. The refusal to address our role says a lot about the condition we find ourselves in as people still living with the impact of slavery and colonialism.
Nadia Wittom, Labor MP for Nottingham East, said: “We must be responsible enough to confront our nation's history and the legacy it leaves today. We need to start by opening a dialogue with countries that have inherited wealth, about the impact of colonialism and slavery on their societies and how to correct the mistakes of the past.
Clive Lewis, Labor MP for Norwich South, said: “You have to think before you go to the Commonwealth meeting: a new Labor government wants to have better and closer relations with those countries… David Lammy is a Caribbean son of Guyana . Expectations will be high for him to move the dial in their direction.
Marsha de Cordova, Labor MP for Battersea, and Dan Butler, Labor MP for Brent East, also said ministers should be prepared to discuss compensation.
Lammy was the son of Guyanese immigrants and an advocate for justice for the Windrush generation in England. He has said in the past that it is necessary to tell “hard truths” about slavery.
A Commonwealth spokesperson said: “The Commonwealth has historically facilitated open conversations about difficult issues, which has delivered positive results. If any government proposes it, compensatory justice is not about reparations, it can be debated in Choqm. If so, government leaders will decide how discussions should proceed.
Samoa approaches the meeting as a Commonwealth, created from the ashes of the British Empire, and faces major questions about its usefulness as an association.
He refused to attend the Summit of Heads of Government. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will skip a meeting this week in favor of the BRICS summit in Russia.
Scotland has been a divisive secretary general: critics have accused her of cronyism and a group, including the United Kingdom, tried unsuccessfully to oust her in 2022.
Pat Conroy, Australian minister for the Indo-Pacific, told The Guardian that the meeting was “an opportunity for the Commonwealth to demonstrate its relevance to its members” and that it sometimes “went on too long.”
There is tension among major Commonwealth nations over whether Samoa, a small nation of 200,000, can successfully host King Charles' first summit as head of the Commonwealth.
Given the islands' limited tourism infrastructure, organizers have chartered cruise ships to take participants home. It has reportedly received £80,000 from the government to renovate the hotel that will house the monarch, and the UK, Australia and New Zealand are supporting Samoa with security measures.
Rosie Anfilogoff contributed reporting.
