By james art The Prime Minister will travel to Samoa this week for the biennial meeting of the heads of government of the 56 nations, where leaders will choose the new Commonwealth Secretary-General.
All three candidates running for office called for reparations to countries affected by slavery and colonialism, but Downing Street said the issue was “not on the agenda” at the event and “we will not be offering an apology”.
Clapham and Brixton Hill Labor MP Bel Ribeiro-Addy said the No 10 position was “disappointing” and likened it to old “colonial attitudes”.
“The idea that we’re not going to look at it at all and just ignore the issue seems wrong to me that we would dismiss it when we know so many people have these concerns – countries that we say are our equals but we’re unwilling to discuss something that so many of them have on their agenda,” she told the PA news agency.
“To say we don’t want to talk about it at all takes us back to colonial attitudes. I think it is wrong not to discuss it and I hope that will change.
Four other Labor MPs – Clive Lewis (Norwich South), Nadia Witham (Nottingham East), Marcia de Cordova (Battersea) and former minister Dawn Butler – also called on Sir Keir to change course, the Guardian reported.
The prime minister’s official spokesman previously insisted he would not discuss reparations at this week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm).
“The government’s position on this matter has not changed, we are not paying reparations,” he said.
“The Prime Minister is attending this week’s summit to discuss the shared challenges and opportunities facing the Commonwealth, including boosting growth in our economies.”
Asked about the government’s position on offering an apology for historical mistakes, the spokesman added: “The position on the apology remains the same, we will not be offering an apology at Chogm, but we will continue to engage with partners on the issues as we work with them to address the pressing challenges of today and indeed for generations to come.”
Recently resurfaced footage showed Foreign Secretary David Lammy set to join Sir Keir in Samoa making the case for reparations while he was a Labor MP after the Windrush scandal.
Caricom, a group of 15 Caribbean nations, has called for talks to explore such measures, and representatives from the region are expected to raise the issue in Samoa.
All three candidates in the race to become the next Commonwealth Secretary-General – Ghana’s Shirley Botchway, Lesotho’s Joshua Setipa and Gambia’s Mamadou Tangara – also supported restorative justice.
The summit will also be attended by the King, head of the Commonwealth of Nations, following his visit to Australia where he was taunted by an Australian senator who accused him of “genocide” against her nation’s indigenous people.
Although the majority of Commonwealth leaders are expected to attend the meeting, India’s Narendra Modi and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa will be conspicuously absent.
Instead, the two leaders chose to prioritize the BRICS summit in Russia at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin, where the leaders of Brazil, China and several other prominent developing countries will also attend.