Sir Keir Starmer rejects calls for reparations to avoid ‘long and endless discussions about the past’

Published

8 months ago

October 23, 2024

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Sir Keir Starmer has rejected calls for reparations for slavery, saying it would lead to “very long, endless discussions” about the past.

The prime minister said while the transatlantic slave trade was “abhorrent”, he believes the countries affected by it would rather the UK help them with contemporary challenges, such as the impact of climate change.

Speaking to reporters on the plane to Samoa, where he will attend the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm), Sir Keir said: “On the question of which way we’re facing, I think we should be facing forward.

“I’ve talked to a lot of our Commonwealth colleagues in the Commonwealth family and they’re facing real challenges on things like climate in the here and now.

“And in all the conversations I’ve had with them, what they’re most interested in is can we help them working with international institutions, financial institutions on the sorts of packages they need right now in relation to the challenges they’re facing right now.”

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He added: “That’s where I’m going to put my focus rather than what will end up being very long, endless discussions about reparations on the past.”

There has been mounting pressure from leaders of Caribbean nations for the UK to consider paying reparations for the impact of the transatlantic slave trade.

The call has also been echoed by some Labour backbenchers, with Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, arguing that the UK has both a “moral and legal duty to address the injustices of the past”.

She wrote on X: “Refusing to address our country’s role in enslavement and colonialism speaks volumes about the regard in which we hold people who still live with their impact.”

Earlier this week the prime minister’s official spokesman said reparations were “not on the agenda” at the Commonwealth summit and the government would not offer an apology for the slave trade.

“The government’s position on this has not changed – we do not pay reparations,” the spokesman said.

“The prime minister is attending this week’s summit to discuss shared challenges and opportunities faced by the Commonwealth, including driving growth across our economies.”

Pressed about an apology, the spokesman added: “The position on apology remains the same, we won’t be offering an apology at Chogm, but we will continue to engage with partners on the issues as we work with them to tackle the pressing challenges of today and indeed for the future generations.”

Earlier this week, the King was heckled by Australian senator Lidia Thorpe during his address to the Australian parliament on Monday.

She shouted: “Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us! Our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people. You destroyed our land. Give us a treaty!

“You are not our King, you are not sovereign… you have committed genocide against our people.”

Sir Keir will meet the King and Queen who received a ceremonial welcome when they arrived in Samoa for their four-day state visit following their tour of Australia.

Politics

Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she is ‘totally’ up for the job of chancellor in first comments since tearful PMQs

Published

3 hours ago

July 3, 2025

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Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she is 'totally' up for the job of chancellor in first comments since tearful PMQs

The chancellor has said she was having a “tough day” yesterday in her first public comments since appearing tearful at Prime Minister’s Questions – but insisted she is “totally” up for the job.

Rachel Reeves told broadcasters: “Clearly I was upset yesterday and everyone could see that. It was a personal issue and I’m not going to go into the details of that.

“My job as chancellor at 12 o’clock on a Wednesday is to be at PMQs next to the prime minister, supporting the government, and that’s what I tried to do.

“I guess the thing that maybe is a bit different between my job and many of your viewers’ is that when I’m having a tough day it’s on the telly and most people don’t have to deal with that.”

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She declined to give a reason behind the tears, saying “it was a personal issue” and “it wouldn’t be right” to divulge it.

“People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday. Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job,” she added.

Ms Reeves also said she is “totally” up for the job of chancellor, saying: “This is the job that I’ve always wanted to do. I’m proud of what I’ve delivered as chancellor.”

Asked if she was surprised that Sir Keir Starmer did not back her more strongly during PMQs, she reiterated that she and the prime minister are a “team”, saying: “We fought the election together, we changed the Labour Party together so that we could be in the position to return to power, and over the past year, we’ve worked in lockstep together.”

PM: ‘I was last to appreciate’ that Reeves was crying

The chancellor’s comments come after the prime minister told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby that he “didn’t appreciate” that she was crying behind him at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday because the weekly sessions are “pretty wild”, which is why he did not offer her any support while in the chamber.

He added: “It wasn’t just yesterday – no prime minister ever has had side conversations during PMQs. It does happen in other debates when there’s a bit more time, but in PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang. That’s what it was yesterday.

“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”

During PMQs, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch branded the chancellor the “human shield” for the prime minister’s “incompetence” just hours after he was forced to perform a humiliating U-turn over his controversial welfare bill, leaving a “black hole” in the public finances.

The prime minister’s watered-down Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill was backed by a majority of 75 in a tense vote on Tuesday evening – but a total of 49 Labour MPs voted against the bill, which was the largest rebellion in a prime minister’s first year in office since 47 MPs voted against Tony Blair’s lone parent benefit in 1997, according to Professor Phil Cowley from Queen Mary University.

Reeves looks transformed – but this has been a disastrous week for the PM

It is a Rachel Reeves transformed that appears in front of the cameras today, nearly 24 hours since one of the most extraordinary PMQs.

Was there a hint of nervousness as she started, aware of the world watching for any signs of human emotion? Was there a touch of feeling in her face as the crowds applauded her?

People will speculate. But Ms Reeves has got through her first public appearance, and can now, she hopes, move on.

The prime minister embraced her as he walked on stage, the health secretary talked her up: “Thanks to her leadership, we have seen wages rising faster than the cost of living.”

A show of solidarity at the top of government, a prime minister and chancellor trying to get on with business.

But be in no doubt today’s speech on a 10-year-plan for the NHS has been overshadowed. Not just by a chancellor in tears, but what that image represents.

A PM who, however assured he appeared today, has marked his first year this week, as Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby put to him, with a “self-inflicted shambles”.

She asked: “How have you got this so wrong? How can you rebuild trust? Are you just in denial?”

They are questions Starmer will be grappling with as he tries to move past a disastrous week.

Ms Reeves has borne a lot of the criticism over the handling of the vote, with some MPs believing that her strict approach to fiscal rules has meant she has approached the ballooning welfare bill from the standpoint of trying to make savings, rather than getting people into work.

Ms Badenoch also said the chancellor looked “absolutely miserable”, and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.

Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she will, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”

Downing Street scrambled to make clear to journalists that Ms Reeves was “going nowhere”, and the prime minister has since stated publicly that she will remain as chancellor “for many years to come”.