Starmer and Lammy ‘absolutely clear’ no cash reparations, says Foreign Secretary

Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said he and the Prime Minister were “absolutely clear” that the UK will “not be making cash transfers and payments” in relation to reparations over the slave trade.

However, they are “happy to have the dialogue” around other issues relating to the future.

He made the comments to a cross-party committee of MPs, and it comes just weeks after the issue dominated the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa.

Answering questions at the Foreign Affairs committee over discussions about the matter at last month’s summit, Mr Lammy said the nature of the conversations focused on climate finance and tech investment.

Cash transfers 

He said: “There was no discussion about reparation and money, and the Prime Minister and I were absolutely clear that we will not be making cash transfers and payments to the Caribbean.

“We are absolutely happy to have the dialogue about the future, our future relationships, and we will continue with those.”

He said that the phrase “reparations” was not in the communique from the summit. The phrase reparatory justice was in the communique.

“There’s a caricature about sending cash and I have rejected that caricature,” Mr Lammy added.

The communique published at the end of the summit signed by leaders acknowledged calls for a discussion on “reparatory justice” and said they “agreed that the time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity”.

Sir Keir had steered away from calls for reparations during the conference and had insisted it was not on the UK’s agenda, despite calls from Caribbean and African member states for discussions on the issue.

‘Shared history’

Speaking at an executive session of the summit in Samoa in October, the Prime Minister said it was important to acknowledge a “hard” shared history, and that he understood the “strength of feeling” about reparations.

Speaking alongside other leaders, he said: “We must also acknowledge our shared history – especially when it’s hard.

“I understand the strength of feeling here and that there are some calls to face up to the harms and injustices of the past through reparatory justice.”