London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

An apology denied is justice denied

An apology denied is justice denied

Activist David Weaver remembers the day, 20 years ago, when Britain told a world conference there would be no apology for slavery
IT WAS exactly 20 years ago, on 3rd September, that the UK prime minister, Tony Blair, boldly rose to announce his and the British Government’s blatant refusal to give an outright apology for slavery and Britain’s role in the evil enslavement of African people.

This took place at the World Conference Against Racism that was held in Durban, South Africa.

People tend to say that the decision to embark on the war in Iraq was Blair’s greatest failure but for me – as a descendant of enslaved Africans – his biggest failure and ultimate disgrace was authorising the British Government’s refusal to apologise for slavery.

This was a move that most Black people in Britain saw as grievous disrespect and one which we cannot ever forgive or forget. Indeed, I would argue that this decision has continued the intergenerational racialised trauma faced by descendants of the enslaved people and one which has given absolute legitimacy to institutionalised and structural racism in this country.

At the time I was chair of the 1990 Trust (a high profile anti-racist and human rights) body and a significant number of our team and networks attended the conference in Durban).

We were shocked by the absolute depth of resistance of the British Government to giving an apology.

While some other European nations wanted to apologise, Britain joined the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal and proposed only to express “regret” about the slave trade, without any specific recognition of responsibility.

Britain’s decision completely disregarded the loud calls for reparations from Commonwealth countries and its own black citizens.

Why is marking this day important? For me, the World Conference Against Racism was a wake-up call to Britain and a sign that many other European powers are not prepared to turn their eyes away from a global atrocity indefinitely. More importantly, the conference sparked a moment when Africans from all over the world, representing all forms of activism, came together and forged alliances which are now bearing fruit two decades on.

Indeed, Jamaica has put a price tag on slavery and has sent the British government the bill. State officials of
the Caribbean nation said they’re asking Great Britain to pay $10.6 billion (USD) in reparations.

And the calls for the apology and for reparations have not lessened – in fact they have increased. Out of the Durban conference has arisen a healthy convergence between the consciousness emerging from the Black Lives Matter movements, Pan-Africanist thought, and countries extricating themselves from colonial powers.

The recent announcement by Barbados of its intention to remove Queen Elizabeth as its head of state and become a
republic no doubt presages its own claim for reparations. In the U.S, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee has pushed a bill to form a commission to study reparations for African- American victims of the transatlantic slave trade.

In this country, amidst the furore about statues, street names and so called ‘stately homes’, there is a subliminal argument being posed by those who oppose Britain apologising for the transatlantic slave trade and making reparations for it. “It was a long time ago get over it – after all David you were never a slave”. What hypocrisy!
Reparations have already been paid for the slave trade – but only to the descendants of the White ‘Slave Owners’!

The fact is that the British government borrowed £20 million from the taxpayer – which amounted to a massive 40 percent of the Treasury’s annual income or about 5 percent of British GDP, to hand to the enslavers.

The loan was one the largest in history.

It was only in 2015 that, according to the Treasury, British taxpayers (including you and I – the victims of this evil so-called trade) finished ‘paying off’ the debt. In short, we have suffered the compound insult of not only being told by our government that we are not worthy of an apology – we as descendants of our enslaved ancestors have been paying off a debt used to compensate the people who kidnapped, raped, murdered and brutalised my family members just four generations ago.

History teaches many lessons; but it is up to us whether we dismiss them or fashion them into powerful arguments for righting past injustices.

Britain is sadly mistaken if it views Durban as settling its account on the slave trade.

It must now reconcile its past with a futureburgeoning with demands from Africans at home and abroad for an apology and reparations.But it will only happen if we ‘do for self’ – and recognise our responsibility to bequeath tofuture generations a society better than we found it.

Central to this has to be ensuring thatwe use our political leverage – including our voting power – to ensure that we, our childrenand children’s children receive the dignity of an apology for the most heinous violation ofhuman rights ever.

That apology will only ring true if backed by hard currency that is commensurate with the scale of funds needed to build strong Black communities.

It’s the least Britain can do in recognising the suffering and the courage of our ancestors.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×