ROBERT Jenrick is partly right in saying that African kings were opposed to the abolition of slavery. There were a few who found it profitable to capture members of another tribe to sell to British slave traders, together with some of their own people that they wanted rid of – an African version of the Rwanda deal.
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He asserts that Britain took the lead in abolishing slavery, but fails to mention that the government raised £20 million to compensate slave owners for “the loss of their property”. Nor does he admit that we the taxpayers were paying off this loan until 2015.
Perhaps this is understandable, as a case for paying compensation could impact on those individuals and institutions that benefitted from such compensation.
All of which explains why no British government will ever apologise over the issue, and will instead resort to cliches about it being “regrettable ... in the past ... time to move on ... new attitudes”.
T J Dowds
Cumbernauld
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