London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Jul 13, 2025

Protesters demand wealthy MP pays up for family’s slave trade past

Rally outside home of Conservative Richard Drax demands reparations for 200 years of trade in Barbados
Protesters demanded yesterday that a Conservative MP should hand over his 621-acre sugar plantation to the people of Barbados as compensation for his family’s 200 years of slave owning and trading on the island. Richard Drax, the MP for Dorset South, has said the role of his ancestors was “deeply, deeply regrettable” but resists demands for reparations.

As part of this year’s Tolpuddle Festival, a rally organised by Stand Up to Racism, Dorset, at the gates of the Drax family estate highlighted the family’s historic role in slavery. The festival celebrates the Tolpuddle Martyrs, poorly paid farm workers, who were transported in 1834 for organising trade union activities.

This is the first time the festival has worked with reparation activists. Several hundred campaigners attended yesterday’s “It’s Time, Mr Drax” rally on the hottest day of the year so far.

Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the TUC, told the rally that Drax had a moral duty to pay reparations to Barbados. “Mr Drax should pay up now,” she said, citing the violence, rape and murder that accompanied Caribbean slavery.

The diverse and friendly, if noisy, march went round part of the “Great Wall of Dorset”, a three-mile brick wall that surrounds Drax’s home at Charborough Park, eight miles from Tolpuddle.

Last December the Observer and Sunday Mirror revealed that Drax personally controlled the Drax Hall plantation in Barbados, which his family has owned since 1650 and was worked by slaves for 200 years. We also revealed Drax – who is said to enjoy a Downton Abbey lifestyle – is the wealthiest landowning MP, worth at least £150m, with an estate of 22.5 square miles of Dorset and 125 properties including his 17th century mansion.

Nigel Costley, secretary of the South West TUC, told protesters: “No one can be held responsible for the actions of their ancestors. But Richard Drax is still sitting on the mountain of gold gained from the horrors of slavery. It’s time he paid some back.”

Speaking from Barbados, the Labour MP Trevor Prescod said: “Drax Hall witnessed terrible pain and suffering – and people today still experience disadvantage that is the outcome of generations of slavery.

“We ask Mr Drax to show moral leadership and to discuss with us how to address the legacy of chattel slavery.”

Grafton Shaker of Dorset Unite, who grew up in Barbados, said that as children they were taken to plantations for days out, “but we were never told about the horrors of slavery”.

The rally organisers say they repeatedly asked Drax to meet them so they could hand him a statement. They have had no response.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
Trump Imposes 35% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Amid Trade Tensions
Junior Doctors in the UK Prepare for Five-Day Strike Over Pay Disputes
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
×