Church accused of trying to be on 'cool side of history' with slavery reparations

The Church of England’s program for a £100million reparations money to code its “shameful” links to the enslaved commercialized person travel nether occurrence successful a large report.

It warns the task would usage wealth intended for struggling parishes and is some “poorly justified” and “historically uninformed”.

The £100million pledge followed an probe which recovered the religion had benefited from investments successful a institution which transported slaves. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said the denomination should “take enactment to code our shameful past”.

But a caller study from Policy Exchange calls connected the religion to wantonness this “ill-conceived enterprise”.

Lord Sewell, the erstwhile president of the Commission connected Race and Ethnic Disparities, states successful the report’s foreword that helium suspects the Church of England wants to beryllium connected “the chill broadside of history”.

The adjacent said that the church’s “charge into the reparations fray is an embarrassing symbolic gesture, akin to those footballers and politicians who were taking the knee”.

He added: “Rather than addressing the genuine challenges successful our nine today, the religion allows itself to beryllium dragged into the quagmire of a communicative astir the bequest of slavery and systemic racism.”

An probe initiated by the Church Commissioners recovered the Church’s concern money – known successful the 18th period arsenic Queen Anne’s Bounty – had investments successful the South Sea Company which were perchance worthy much than £720million successful today’s money. The institution transported an estimated 34,000 enslaved radical successful “inhumane” conditions.

The deliberation vessel is acrophobic the task could acceptable an planetary precedent for reparations which volition adhd unit connected the Government and the Royal Family to instrumentality akin action.

Lord Biggar, an Oxford world and clergyman who co-authored the report, argues Britain has already performed “penance”.

He said: “The British were among the archetypal peoples successful the past of the satellite to abolish some the enslaved commercialized and slavery. They went connected to bash penance for slavery by spending resources of money, ships, and lives successful suppressing slavery worldwide for a century-and-a-half.”

Dr Alka Sehgal-Cuthbert, a co-author of the report, said: “Today’s advocates for reparations not lone crook the past into different country, but into a morally reprobate state too. This is neither existent nor just.

“Unlike the wide question successful enactment of abolition of slavery, the telephone for reparations contiguous is simply a top-down elite project.”

And Charles Wide KC, who besides contributed to the report, said: “After galore months, the project’s promoters person been incapable to formulate a ineligible mechanics for its delivery. It has been pursued successful the look of abundant authoritative critique and has widened the divisions betwixt the Church’s enactment and hard-pressed Anglicans, ordained and lay, from whose indispensable enactment galore millions of pounds would beryllium diverted.

“It should beryllium abandoned.”

However, Gareth Mostyn, the Church Commissioners’ main executive, said: “This study features factual errors and fundamentally mischaracterises our task – including the probe carried retired by independent, nonrecreational historians and forensic accountants, which established the information that our predecessor money was invested successful a slave-trading entity. The Board of the Church Commissioners determined that, arsenic a liable investor, it is wholly close that we larn from our past and respond appropriately to these shameful findings, and we are present successful treatment with the Charity Commission astir the constitution of a caller money for healing, repair, and justice, and are exploring specified authorisations arsenic whitethorn beryllium required.”