Commonwealth politicians have vowed to continue seeking reparations for slavery after Reform UK announced plans to halt visas for nationals of countries formally demanding reparations from Britain. The pledge, described by critics as a 'punishment' for seeking justice, has drawn sharp condemnation from Caribbean and African leaders.
Arley Gill, head of the Grenada Reparations Commission, said: 'It is not funny that they think after years of invading and colonising a people that they think a British visa for those same people is a privilege.' Ralph Gonsalves, former prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, accused Reform leader Nigel Farage of 'doing an imitative Trump' and seeking a 'cultural wedge issue' that would isolate Britain.
Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caricom reparations commission, called for 'inter-nation dialogue', adding: 'The idea the victims of an enormous crime calling for justice are to be doubly punished is tragic.' He noted that most victims of historical crimes have received some form of apology or reparations, and said Black people were being deemed undeserving due to 'toxic racism' and 'white supremacy politics'.
Reform UK's home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf said the UK was being 'ridiculed on the world stage' by countries like Jamaica, Nigeria and Ghana demanding reparations. But Neville Watson, a former Reform UK branch chair who left the party over the issue, said the stance would 'punish nations for raising legitimate historical claims' and compound UK skills shortages.
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Afrikan Reparations, called the policy a 'ridiculous provocation', stressing that 'reparatory justice was never simply about money. The demand is for acknowledgment, truth-telling and structural repair.'
