National Trust address colonialism and slavery report criticism

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The Jamaican culture minister is planning to petition the Queen for reparations. The politician has said plans are underway to present the Queen with a petition requesting financial compensation for the victims and descendants of the slave trade. But why is the Queen being targeted?

A petition will soon be submitted to Her Majesty and the Government which asks for financial compensation for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade.

Olivia “Baby” Grange, the Minister for Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, said: “We are especially pleased to announce that we have made further steps in our strides towards seeking reparatory justice for the victims and descendants of the transatlantic slave trade.

“The petition is to be presented to the Queen of the UK and or the Government of the UK.”

Ms Grange said Jamaica’s National Council of Reparation had fully backed the petition.

She said: “The Attorney General’s chambers would need to weigh up the merits of the petition in the eventuality of the government of Jamaica’s involvement in the petition.

“It would be the responsibility of the Attorney General’s chambers to file the petition on behalf of the people of Jamaica.”

Why is the Queen being targeted?

The British monarch has officially titled the Queen of Jamaica as the country is within the British Commonwealth.

The Queen has been targeted to face these demands as she is the head of state of the UK.

The petition is set to be presented to the Queen which the government will likely address on her behalf.

How was Jamacia impacted by the slave trade?

Jamaica was heavily impacted by the barbaric transatlantic slave trade.

The country became a British colony in 1665 and between then and 1838 more than three million Africans were trafficked across the Atlantic Ocean as part of the trade.

Enslaved Africans were brought to British-owned colonies in the Caribbean.

Jamaica had a high number of colonies where slaves were forcibly put to work on plantations.

Britain generated vast profits from this exploitative trade and so the petition is asking Britain to pay compensation as many Jamaicans are descendants of these slaves.

A spokesperson for the UK Government Treasury said: “While reparations are not part of the Government’s approach, we feel deep sorrow for the transatlantic slave trade, and fully recognise the strong sense of injustice and the legacy of slavery in the most affected parts of the world.”

Others have been less sympathetic towards the calls for reparations, Thomas Mace-Archer-Mills, historian and founder of the British Monarchists Society, told the Daily Star: “Britain has already paid its share and then some the price of freedom for Jamaica’s slaves.”

Last December more than 20,000 signed an online petition asking the British government to compensate “all Caribbean & African Descendants”.

Previous attempts to gain compensation from the UK for Britain’s role in the slave trade have failed.

David Cameron was asked to pay billions in slavery reparations in 2015 when he visited the former colony.

That same year taxpayers finally paid off a huge £20million debt to compensate the descendants of slave owners for their loss of wealth due to the abolition of the trade which happened in 1833.

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