It is always better for governments and politicians to tackle problems they can do something about. Turning themselves into bad historians to posture about long past evils is pointless.
We can all condemn the eighteenth century slave trades. If we do it helps to remember not just the European slave traders that profited from evil, but also the African leaders who sold people to them. The Barbary pirates raided English towns and attacked English ships to enslave English people. We also need to remember the crucial role played in the nineteenth century by the U.K. Â in abolishing much of the trade. The Royal Navy enforced new laws against it.
The problem with the past is it teems with slavery. The Romans relied on slaves  and enforced their imperial government on subject peoples like the English with a brutal army. The Normans killed our King and imposed serfdom on many English people, stealing the lands from their English owners. No one suggests these wrongs can or should be tackled by compensation or apologies.
The past is a foreign land no one can revisit. We can study it, learn from it and seek to understand it. We can also all agree slavery is wrong. That should lead us to tackle it now in our world.
October 24, 2024
Good morning.
Quite right, Sir John.
But alas we have a Foreign Secretary that is either poorly educated or, willfully ignorant of the facts. Facts that, rather his ancestors and fellow Africans were practicing slavery BEFORE Europeans arrived, he would rather push the narrative that slavery was a White man’s game and they, the Africans, were all victims.
It is also a nice little earner for former failed colonies who, since independence, have basically ruined their country. You don’t hear Singapore demand reparations. They have too much pride and a strong work ethic, making them far wealthier.
Like the climate scam or the BLM this is just another grift that will see money syphoned off into the hands of a few with the majority seeing nothing.
October 24, 2024
Mark, failed economies since independece perhaps. However Caribbean countries that had British rule show higher GDP per capita than other Caribbean countries and than the African countries that people were taken from. There is a case for saying historic slavery has left the current generation wealthier.
October 24, 2024
Quite, Intellectual property shared has never been paid for. Maybe we can start that discussion. I am sure the bill is huge.
October 24, 2024
Indeed perhaps and payments should be in the other direction.
October 24, 2024
Having a British hating government, an equally ignorant Foreign Secretary cheered on by the useless Archbishop of Canterbury what’s the betting we end up paying.
We’ve already given the Chagos to China via Mauritius a total act of self harm. No doubt we’ll be ceding the Channel islands together with the fishing grounds over to France.
There’s no end to what this mendacious government will do to burnish its international credentials at the expense of the UK taxpayer.
Will the Home secretary be held responsible for Peter Lynch’s death in custody after the kangaroo court of free beer kier.
October 24, 2024
Victimhood is one of the great rackets of our time. The race hustlers who promote the slavery reparations are much, much louder than those who point out the flaws in their case.
Victimhood is also a great racket for the hardline elements in the state of Israel. It provides another excuse for its excesses. This probably won’t get published as the Israel lobby ensures that there are consequences for those who question their approach.
October 24, 2024
Quite so, in your last para. This is all about the claimants wishing to prop-up their corrupt administrations in the hope of clinging onto office for a year or two more. However, given the desire of our government to splash cash we don’t have around, to those who don’t earn it, no doubt he’ll agree its a worthy cause.
October 24, 2024
What a refreshing idea! Let’s contemplate what we are ourselves responsible for, and apologise for our own mistakes and claim credit for our own good work.
Nobody can apologise on behalf of anyone else just as we cannot take the glory won by anyone else.
Accepting that premise Reeves should apologise for misusing her business credit card, which was removed from her for that reason. She should apologise for plagiarism in her book, she should apologise for (some of?)expense claims to Parliamentary Authorities.
Then she and we should consider where she is a fit person to deal with the nation’s money.
October 24, 2024
Politicians love to say sorry for things they never caused, but so very rarely for things they did. Blair/Major say sorry for the potato famine but Major does not for his predictable ERM fiasco or many other abject failures. Nor Blair for his counterproductive losing wars on a lie. Sunak and Boris have still not said sorry for his lockdown lunacy, gross economic incompetency as chancellor or the net harm Covid “vaccine”. When will anyone say sorry for the climate alarmist net zero lunacy.
Cameron has not said sorry for his to the tens of thousands lie or his cast iron one.
October 24, 2024
When did we have a fit person to deal with the nations money in Number 11? Certainly not John ERM Major, Brown, Darling, Osborne, Hammond, Javid, Sunak, Hunt, Reeves…
So now Reeves wants to further mug private pensions and further protect state gold plated ones. Two tier pensions, two tier justice, two tier police…
So will the Judge and Kier Starmer ever say sorry for the sad death of Peter Lynch.
October 24, 2024
Making an already grossly unfair system even more so.
October 24, 2024
Absolutely correct in every word. Unfortunatly in the current world of international politics there are those, driven by the chance of a free handout, and the gullible prepared to consider it. It is a form of bribery.
That it still exists in other cultures is no doubt true. Where identified it should be condemned and sanctioned. If it encroaches on our shores, grooming gangs, FGM, and teenage arranged marriage being symptoms of it, it should be prosecuted fearlessly.
October 24, 2024
No way. Diversity and inclusion remember.
October 24, 2024
“ It is always better for governments and politicians to tackle problems they can do something about.”
Indeed. But from the point of view of the state sector and many politicians the reverse is usually the case. Something like climate alarmism and the war on the gas of life – plant, tree and crop food is ideal. If you can con people into blind faith in this deluded religion – it is a perfect excuse for ever more taxation, more state power, more state control…plus, as it is a non problem it “solves” itself anyway.
So bonkers is this religion that even if you swallow the devil gas fiery hell on earth agenda the things they push – wind, solar, public transport, walking, cycling, EVs, exporting whole industries like steel do not even save any or any significant CO2.
October 24, 2024
The Commonwealth should become a hub for free trade. Forget any guilt from actions past and promote Trade as better than Aid. I can accept food miles when the origen is the Commonwealth. We have a common language and legal system. So where goods can be bought and sold, facilitate it, for the good of all members.
October 24, 2024
There are at least two books that all MPs and Lords should read: ‘The English & Their History’ by Robert Tombs and ‘Colonialism – A Moral Reckoning’ by Nigel Biggar. I’d like to suggest none should be allowed to take office in government without passing a test of their knowledge of history, economics, international affairs and defence (Nigel Biggar’s ‘In Defence of War’ and ME Sarotte’s ‘Not One Inch’ should also be mandated).
Essentially our politicians are still for the most part gifted amateurs with very little relevant knowledge. I understand the Right wing Anti-Lockdown and Anti-Vax brigades oppose any experts ever being allowed near decision making but expertise is nevertheless required for competent government.
October 24, 2024
PS. I omitted to mention that the problem with a test is that we couldn’t trust the testers – just look at the state of education, the root cause of much of what is wrong in and with UK today. So, Houston mission control, we have a problem and there is nobody here to fix it.
October 24, 2024
How true, Peter, and how true also of the PCR test, not to mention the lateral flow tests, those unreliable but highly profitable boondoggles OK’ed by the ‘experts’ you seem to worship. The country is owed two years of its life, that frightened politicians, venal experts and bought-and-paid-for media personalities took away from us.
October 24, 2024
The compensation that the Caribbean people are demanding has already been paid. They now own their islands, very valuable real estate. When those island nations became independent they took control and ownership of the islands, worth trillions in today’s money.
October 24, 2024
This is a really excellent summary on the history of slavery.
For those who may wish to read just a little more I would recommend this piece by
Jamaican historian Martin Henry. See here: http://www.rhodesia.me.uk/africas-role-in-slavery/
October 24, 2024
Than you Sir John, all sensible stuff as usual.
When I remind people slavery was covered in the Bible as a normal part of society, long before Britain was a thing, they try to dismiss that as ancient history, whereas 18th century world activities is somehow modern and relevant to current affairs.
I then advise them when Britain outlawed slavery worldwide, we were the first and only World power ever to do so.
I also remind them the world population back then was a mere tenth of what it is today. Whale oil was the main source of light after dark, horses were the only form of travel from one town to the next and life expectancy was sub 40 years for the average man and woman in Britain. Back then peasants and the bulk of society was riddled with poverty and disease. For many, living in total squalor, life and existence as a slave would have been a social uplift from their tenement based unwashed hungry survival in places like Glasgow, Liverpool and London.
October 24, 2024
‘Mark B’ nailed it above. “nice little earner”
October 24, 2024
Compensation now for the victims and wrongs of people who have been dead for over 200 years.
The World has gone absolutely mad !
The problem is, we actually may have some people in Parliament who may think it is a good idea.
October 24, 2024
Well as with the first abolition there must be financial considerations.
Imagine cheap labour that is actually free!
And then you have the tedious business of who quits first giving rivals the financial/profit edge.
But the hypocrisy is mind blowing.
October 24, 2024
Excellent common sense comments.
<B<How much more are we going to spend to heal the conscience of the liberal left who most likely benefitted from historic slavery as much as anyone?
It is an aberration to imagine that money can put right issues from the past. Should we be suing the descendants of those historic leaders from the last century who started world wars and killed so many?
No, that makes no sense, but that is how the ignorant liberal mind works.
There is another element to this seeming self flagellation. Just like those who get upset for others over a perceived injustice or insult, it gives them power. Power to stand up and be important for 5 minutes.
We should dismiss all of this nonsense, but other weak minds will push these irresponsible things onward, especially when they have gained power so easily. Their attention needs to be re-directed towards present time abuses that they prefer to ignore; child slavery and abductions, forced marriages, etc. There are plenty of examples where some human lives are worth less than animals in today’s world.
October 24, 2024
It is now no longer possible to move on from past slavery, it has to dealt with and the arguments mercilessly killed off , no prevarication or worrying about hurt feelings should be allowed , which is difficult for it is such part of the feeble British establishment’s make up , for the reason we have this situation is because the British establishment have allowed totally spurious claims to take hold without bothering to rubbish them. They have been lazy and incompetent and unfortunately I doubt they have it in them to fight our corner.
October 24, 2024
But who in the establishment will stridently object to those who are weak or deliberately active in having our country demoralised. And where are they?
Having a debate is not enough, part of the weak refusal to take and promote our moral side.
October 24, 2024
An ideological weapon to destabilise the West.
And because of the idiocy/greed/cowardice of our “leaders” it will prove far more effective than probably even a nuclear war.