Commonwealth chief hopeful says UK owes India ‘extra money than it has’
A contender for next secretary-general of the Commonwealth has suggested the UK owes India ‘more money than it has’.
Joshua Setipa, former trade minister for Lesotho, insisted the body should address the impact of the slave trade and colonialism.
The intervention, in an interview with the Financial Times, comes as Keir Starmer and the King prepare to head for Samoa for the latest Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
Downing Street has already been forced to rebuff calls for Britain to hand out billions of pounds in slavery reparations ahead of the summit.
A group of Caribbean governments wants to discuss their demand for cash. The PM of Barbados, Mia Mottley, has said compensation should be part of a new ‘global reset’.
Joshua Setipa, former trade minister for Lesotho, insisted the body should address the impact of the slave trade and colonialism
The intervention comes as Keir Starmer (pictured) and the King prepare to head for Samoa for the latest Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting
However, No10 is adamant reparations are ‘not on the agenda’ and the Government would not pay them anyway.
Mr Setipa – one of three candidates vying to replace Baroness Scotland at the summit – said reparations had ‘gained traction and global attention’.
He argued that the Commonwealth was the best forum to make a ‘political commitment’ on the issue.
All three hopefuls are believed to be open to backing reparations, but Mr Setipa said ‘cheques’ would not be enough.
‘Take India. If the UK were to calculate how much it has to pay India, I don’t think it even has that much money,’ Mr Setipa said.
He suggested richer countries need to push for reform to the global financial system with more loans and grants.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who has spoken of being descended from slaves, called for reparations when he was a backbench Labour MP in the wake of the Windrush scandal in 2018.
He said then: ‘I’m afraid, as Caribbean people, we are not going to forget our history – we don’t just want to hear an apology, we want reparation!’
The PM’s spokesman said last week: ‘Just to be clear, reparations are not on the agenda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
‘Technically, the Government’s position on this has not changed. We do not pay reparations.
‘The Prime Minister is attending the summit to discuss the shared challenges and opportunities faced by the Commonwealth, including driving growth across our economies.’
The King and Queen are visiting Australia before heading for Samoa
