LONDON: Some British Labour lawmakers on Sunday accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer of having a “colonial mindset” and trying to silence nations pushing for discussions on reparations for transatlantic slavery at this month’s Common­wealth summit in Samoa.

Britain has so far rejected calls for reparations but some campaigners hoped Starmer’s new Labour government would be more open to it. However, ahead of the Commonwealth heads of government summit in Samoa, where Caribbean and African nations wished to discuss the topic, Starmer said the issue was not on the agenda and that he would like to “look forward” rather than have “very long, endless discussions about reparations on the past”.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2024