Wednesday, October 8, 2025

LENNY HENRY FACES BACKLASH AFTER DEMANDING SLAVERY REPARATIONS FOR EVERY BLACK BRITON

Sir Lenny Henry faces a backlash for claiming all black Britons should be paid slavery reparations and suggesting a 'Robin Hood tax' on financial transactions could fund it.The comedian has argued in a new book that the UK should hand over an unspecified amount of money to its black population because of the 'effects of slavery'.
He justified this by saying the reasons for modern-day racism and institutionalised racism in police forces can be traced back to the transatlantic slave trade.
The book, The Big Payback, also said reparations must 'dismantle the foundations' of Western society built on slavery and racism and make 'new foundations'.
It cited a figure from a report in 2023 published by the University of West Indies which concluded the UK owed more than £18trillion in slavery reparations.
The study suggested that if the UK paid off the reparations for the next 25 years with an interest rate of 2.5 per cent, it would equate to about £740billion a year.
But the report only said the total should be paid to 14 countries including former colonies in the Caribbean – and did not include any figure for black Britons.
Sir Lenny also looks at theories for how such an amount could be generated – given it equates to around seven times Britain's gross domestic product of £2.7trillion.
One is a financial transactions tax or 'Robin Hood tax', which would be a tax on the purchase or sale of bonds, stocks and derivatives, or foreign exchange transactions.
Economist Bhavik Doshi, who researched the idea in 2023 and is quoted in the book, said that if a tax of 1 per cent on the transaction value was applied to the buyer and seller on all such global transactions, it could generate up to £117billion per day.
Sir Lenny said he 'loved the poetic justice' of this, given 'the modern international banking system was literally built off the proceeds of the transatlantic slave trade'.
Another idea also put forward by Mr Doshi and referenced in the book was 'repurposed financial sanctions'.
This means that when a country is fined for an internationally-recognised crime, the money generated would be given to countries who were the victims of slavery.
In the book, which is published by Faber tomorrow, Sir Lenny writes that 'all black British people… need reparations for slavery' and 'we personally deserve money for the effects of slavery'.
The book does not address how most of the 2.4million black people in Britain are of direct African descent, rather than being the descendants of those enslaved in the Caribbean.
But Sir Lenny and his co-author Marcus Ryder, a TV executive and media diversity campaigner and inclusion, claims that modern racism is because of the slave trade.
Sir Lenny says that 'the reason we have racism today and also …why black British people are grossly over-represented in the prison population' – and other issues such as higher levels of black unemployment – are 'all because of the transatlantic slave trade'.
The book also says reparations should be used for 'ridding the world of racism' by ensuring the 'redistribution' of power and 'changing how power is shared within countries and between countries'.
However, Dr Rakib Ehsan, an independent researcher in social cohesion and race relations, told GB News: 'Instead of getting ourselves into a right tangle over Britain’s admittedly complicated history and the concept of slavery reparations, it is better to be future-oriented.
'This includes the UK co-operating with Caribbean and African Commonwealth countries in the spirit of partnership between sovereign nations, as well as striving to make good on the promise of equality of opportunity for its diverse communities at home.
'It would be more fruitful to focus on practical solutions as opposed to entertaining the politics of grievance and victimhood.'
Britain played a leading role in the transatlantic slave trade that peaked in the 1700s and saw millions of African people transported by sea to its colonies in the Americas, the Caribbean and other countries.
The same ships then returned to the UK carrying 'slave-grown' produce such as sugar, tobacco and cotton, which were consumed in huge volumes across the country.
The Slavery Abolition Act in 1833 compensated British plantation owners for the injury of having their 'property' – enslaved people – taken from them, but did not provide any reparation to the enslaved people themselves.
Enslaved people have been demanding reparatory justice since the 15th century.
But the UK has faced increasing calls in recent years to take a series of measures of redress, including paying descendants of enslaved people and offering a 'full and formal' apology for the impact of colonialism on their cultures and heritage.
Caricom – a group of 15 Caribbean nations – has proposed a 10-point plan which it wants to frame a dialogue about economic development and reparatory justice.
Steps include a 'sincere and formal apology', psychological rehabilitation for African descendant populations, and support for the payment of domestic debt and cancellation of international debt which they say are legacies of colonialism.
Some Labour MPs such as Bell Ribeiro-Addy have publicly criticised the Government for failing to open the door to discussions about reparations.
But Foreign Secretary David Lammy said last November that 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.
What is YOUR opinion on a 'Robin Hood tax'?
Sir Keir Starmer visited Samoa last September to attend a major summit of Commonwealth nations, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire.
And the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) reopened a debate about the modern role of the association of 56 nations headed by the King.
But Downing Street repeatedly insisted 'we do not pay reparations' and 'won't be offering an apology' when asked about the renewed calls from Caribbean nations.
This has been the position of successive UK governments, which have never formally apologised for Britain's role in the slave trade.
Sir Keir has previously downplayed concerns about matters of 'the past' and insisted the Commonwealth should instead be 'facing forward' together.
He has suggested that opening the door to a conversation about reparations would result in 'endless discussions'.
The British government paid £20million to slave owners in compensation when slavery was abolished across most of the empire in 1833, which at the time amounted to 40 per cent of the Treasury's annual income.
It had to take out massive loans to be able to raise the cash, with the debts finally being paid off in 2015.
The public became aware of this only in 2018, after the Treasury shared a post on social media, which declared: 'Millions of you helped end the slave trade through your taxes.'
It sparked a backlash, with many upset their money had ultimately been used to compensate 46,000 slave owners.

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