Parliamentary petition urges apology for UK’s role in slavery and colonialism

Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP is chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Afrikan Reparations. (The spelling with a “k” is deliberate.) On 25 March, the UN International Day for the Remembrance of Victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, she presented a petition in Parliament. It calls for an apology for the UK’s role in African chattel slavery and colonialism.

Ribeiro-Addy’s petition hand-in comes as UN delegates vote on a historic motion, tabled by Ghana, which would recognise the trafficking and enslavement of Africans as a crime against humanity. The UK government has not indicated whether it will support this motion.

The petition calls on MPs to push for a state apology on behalf of the government and the monarchy for the UK’s role in the slavery and colonisation of African people.

It also asks parliamentarians to establish an All-Party Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry for Truth and Reparatory Justice. This would examine the legacy of these crimes and propose concrete steps to address their lasting damage.

It notes that there has never been:

a genuine apology for the enslavement, trafficking, genocide, and exploitation committed under British authority.

Ribeiro-Addy said:

To this day, our country has never provided a genuine apology for the crimes of British Empire or the Transatlantic slave trade.

Rather than acknowledging these historical injustices and how they have shaped the world we live in today, our institutions have sought to sweep them under the carpet.

So many of the intersecting global challenges we now face are rooted in the legacies of enslavement and empire: from geopolitical instability to racism, inequality, underdevelopment and climate breakdown.

To truly confront these issues, we must acknowledge where they come from. An apology could be a meaningful basis for action, signalling our country’s commitment not simply to righting historic wrongs but to tackling ongoing issues they have created and exacerbated.

Featured image via the Canary