Commonwealth leaders have agreed “the time has come” for a discussion on the return of the slave trade, despite the UK’s desire to keep the topic off the agenda at a two-day summit in Samoa.
The document signed by 56 heads of government, including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, agrees that “restorative justice” should be discussed in relation to the “abhorrent” transatlantic slave trade.
The statement says it is time for a “reasonable, honest and respectful” discussion.
Sir Keir said there had been no discussion of money at the meeting, and that the UK was “very clear” in its position that it would not pay compensation.
The UK has faced growing calls from Commonwealth leaders to apologize and pay for the country’s historic role in the slave trade.
Reparations for the benefit of those who suffered as a result of slavery they can take many forms, from financial to symbolic.
Before the conference, Downing Street had insisted that the issue would not be on the agenda.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Sir Keir said Commonwealth leaders had a “great two days” in Samoa and underestimated the importance of reparations at the summit.
“The dominant theme over the two days has been sustainability and the climate,” he said, adding that the part of the joint statement dealing with refunds amounted to “one paragraph in 20 paragraphs”.
“There have been no discussions about money. Our position is very clear regarding that,” he said.
Last week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves told the BBC the UK will not pay reparations for slavery.
Before the statement was issued, the leaders’ conference – where the prime ministers and presidents of all countries meet without advisers – continued for about six hours.
The prime minister said that it was not the talk about the return of money that caused it to continue for so long.
One Downing Street source told the BBC: “We’ve been clear about where we stand and that hasn’t changed.”
And they did and it didn’t happen – in fact their outspokenness about the revisions on the way to the summit upset some of those countries they campaigned for.
Part of the art of diplomacy is keeping things you want to talk about – keeping the conversation going, even if the prospect of immediate change is impossible.
For those who think the time has come for countries like the UK to face their past, the communique allows them to say that the conversation is ongoing.
In the UK and elsewhere, they would say that their position is not changing and point to a range of other topics – trade, climate change and security – that, they argue, the Commonwealth provides an important forum for.
However, the prime minister appeared to leave the door open for further talks on some form of restorative justice, saying “the next opportunity to look at this” would be in the UK-Caribbean forum.
Frederick Mitchell, the foreign minister of the Bahamas, said the leaders hope to come up with a “complete report” on the issue at the forum, which will be held in London next March.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that he expected the UK would eventually pay financial compensation to Caribbean countries.
Challenged on whether the wording of the joint statement was unclear, he said: “Behind the language there is an attempt to go in a certain direction.”
Politicians say they expect restorative justice to be high on the agenda of the next Commonwealth conference in the next two years.
Last year, a UN judge said it was likely that the UK owe more than £18tn in refunds for its role in slavery in 14 Caribbean countries.
But restorative justice may take the form of formal apologies, educational programs or public health assistance.
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