Does the UK have a legal obligation to redress the harms of slavery?

Jamaica’s campaign for reparations from the United Kingdom is part of a broader push for countries to pay for their roles in the transatlantic slave trade and hundreds of years of slavery.

Momentum is building. In March, a United Nations resolution said the claims represent a step towards a remedy for the descendants of enslaved people. Most Western countries abstained from the vote, and the United States opposed it.

In June, African and Caribbean nations met in Ghana – where hundreds of thousands of people were forced onto slave ships. They put together a plan for reparatory justice, which would include debt relief and other support for African nations.

Last month, a UN committee said governments are obliged by law to consider paying damages.

So, will the legal argument boost the case for reparations?

Presenter: Dareen Abughaida

Guests:

Hilary Beckles – vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies and chairman of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) Reparations Commission

Lawrence Goldman – emeritus fellow in history at St Peter’s College, University of Oxford, and former editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Patrick Vernon – British historian and social commentator knighted in 2026 for his services to racial equality and social justice