Politics
Caribbean leaders reject UK aid and debt relief as substitute for slavery reparations
November 4, 2026 at 09:57 PM
Coverage
2 reports · 1 in Arabic, 1 in English · over 11 hours
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has ruled out reparations while Caribbean leaders insist debt relief and development aid cannot replace them.
- Burnham announced Friday he would open structured dialogue on slavery and reparations, ruling out compensation while proposing debt resets and £40m for Caribbean infrastructure.
- King Charles, opening the Commonwealth summit Tuesday, said the slave trade still casts a shadow but stopped short of apologising or backing reparations.
- Ralph Gonsalves said the Caribbean would resist any attempt to treat debt restructuring or development assistance as a form of reparation.
- Bell Ribeiro-Addy said reparative justice must be about agency, decided with affected people, not deals made here and there.