Slavery reparations were one of the prominent issues at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in Samoa this week.

Many countries want to see some form of acknowledgment or apology for the UK’s role in human trafficking as part of the summit.

But Sir Keir Starmer is looking for ways to avoid this.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labor MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill and chair of the All Party Parliament’s African Reparations Group, discussed the issue with Sky News this morning.

He sought to give some context to proposed compensation figures of up to £18 trillion. This is approximately nine times the GDP of the UK.

Ms Ribeiro-Addy said: “I know that the amount payable in damages is set and people need to understand… it is important to quantify this when making a claim.

“But there is no amount of money that can fully offset the horrors of enslavement and colonialism.”

He continues: “People continue to focus on the numbers and I understand why they hear those numbers and get quite scared.

“But it is important to quantify any claim and they did this to ensure that people understood the extent and impact of Britain and the impact of Britain’s actions on these particular countries, particularly the economic impact.

“But you must remember that monetary damages are not the only way to pay compensation.”

Lack of apology means lack of respect

Instead, he says, at a time when some countries are struggling with debt, many countries would benefit from addressing other problems first, rather than handing over lump sums.

Ms Ribeiro-Addy says they do not have access to credit like in the UK and trading can be unfair to them.

Asked whether the UK should apologize to countries, the Labor MP said: “I think maybe the reason they haven’t apologized is out of responsibility.

“But not apologizing represents an absolute lack of respect.

“If we saw these countries as equals, we would apologize to them.”