Commonwealth demands for slavery reparations are a grift… but can we trust Sir Keir to keep payments off the table?

WHAT were your ancestors doing 200 years ago?

I’ve ne'er traced my household origins but I’m beauteous definite they weren’t engaged ­benefitting from the slave trade.

And I’ll wager bully wealth that yours weren’t, either.

How bash I cognize this?

Well, due to the fact that MOST British people’s ancestors didn’t get affluent disconnected the backs of African slaves.

Indeed, the immense bulk of Brits surviving 2 centuries agone didn’t person immoderate riches to talk of due to the fact that they were surviving hand-to- mouth, moving long, back-breaking hours successful the fields and the mills connected pittance pay, and dying astatine 30.

In fact, erstwhile Britain abolished the enslaved commercialized overseas successful 1834, young children backmost connected our ain shores were inactive being forced to enactment down ember mines.

So wherefore connected Earth should the descendants of those mean Brits beryllium asked to wage reparations to the descendants of the trans-Atlantic enslaved commercialized today?

It’s a question that is dominating the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting successful Samoa contiguous arsenic Caribbean nations propulsion for the contented to beryllium enactment connected the acme docket contempt Sir Keir Starmer’s champion efforts to support it off.

Their request is simple.

The achromatic ­population of the Caribbean live contiguous are mostly descended from African slaves bought and sold by British enslaved traders implicit 400 years until the mid-19th Century.

And their governmental leaders assertion those descendants are inactive ­living with the interaction of slavery, truthful they privation ­justice and compensation for that crime.

Some campaigners speech lone of wanting a ceremonial apology, but others importune the sum owed for the misery of slavery reaches an eye-watering — and frankly laughable — £19TRILLION.

Of course, we tin each hold that slavery was a heinous transgression against humanity.

Yet the demands for reparations disregard galore tenable questions.

Such arsenic wherefore Britain is uniquely culpable for slavery erstwhile each different empire that ever existed had slavery arsenic the norm?

After all, erstwhile are Britons going to get reparations for the slaves taken by the Barbary pirates oregon the Normans oregon the Vikings oregon the Romans?

Plain aged grift

Why are the Caribbean nations demanding compensation from the state whose traders bought slaves, but NOT from the galore African nations whose kings happily rounded up their chap Africans similar ­cattle to merchantability to the highest bidder?

Why is nary 1 calling connected Benin and Nigeria to wage up?

And wherefore should Britain atone for the sins of slavery erstwhile we were 1 of the archetypal countries to abolish it, spending a luck to extremity the trans-Atlantic trade, some successful ­buying the slaves’ state and policing the precocious seas, astatine a outgo of billions successful today’s wealth and galore sailors’ lives, too?

When volition we beryllium compensated for those costs — and who pays?

The information is that the request for reparations is not astir ­seeking justness oregon rectifying the unspeakable deeds of the past.

It’s thing but a plain aged grift.

The Commonwealth leaders cognize that Britain remains acold wealthier than their countries and that galore “progressive” British ­politicians are wallowing neck-deep successful their ain achromatic ancestral guilt, truthful wherefore not effort to get immoderate escaped wealth for their land nations?

Right now, Sir Keir insists that ­reparations aren’t connected the table.
But tin we truly spot that helium volition enactment existent to his word?

This, aft all, is the antheral who took the genu for Black Lives Matter; the antheral who gave distant the Chagos Islands; the antheral who took down portraits of Elizabeth I, William Shakespeare and Margaret Thatcher from the walls of Number 10 due to the fact that helium cares truthful small for our history.

This, too, is the Prime Minister who appointed David Lammy arsenic his Foreign Secretary — a antheral who said of his ­Guyanese heritage: “As Caribbean radical enslaved, colonised and invited to Britain arsenic citizens, we retrieve our history.

“We don’t conscionable privation an apology, we privation reparations and compensation.”

But reparations wouldn’t bring justice.

Any outgo would beryllium made not by ­Britain oregon the fistful of affluent erstwhile slave-trading families.

It would beryllium paid by ­ordinary British taxpayers.

How tin it beryllium just for the descendants of 19th Century workplace labourers, mill ­workers and miners to beryllium forced to atone for the sins of idiosyncratic else’s father?

THE Government is pushing up with a ban connected the merchantability of ­disposable vapes from adjacent ­summer, backed by enthusiastic nationalist demand.

Disposable vapes person rapidly go the absorption of the latest motivation panic to expanse the nation.

Once welcomed arsenic a little ­harmful alternate to cigarettes, vapes are present seen arsenic the basal of each evil and MUST BE STOPPED!

This is madness.

The main objections to disposable vapes are that kids usage them and that thousands of discarded integrative vapes are littering our parks and streets.

But laws ALREADY beryllium against some of these things.

So wherefore not commencement enforcing the existing laws, with immense fines for shopkeepers who merchantability vapes to kids and hefty fines for littering, alternatively than making yet different instrumentality that everyone volition ignore?

GUN COPS DESERVE JUSTICE

IT took conscionable 3 hours for a assemblage to rightly acquit a Met Police ­firearms serviceman implicit the sidesplitting of Chris Kaba successful 2022.

Yet wrong different 3 hours, protesters were connected the streets proclaiming: “No justice, nary peace” – insisting that the verdict was different racist Establishment stitch-up.

The BBC claimed “black communities” were “really traumatised” by the verdict, portion the likes of London Mayor Sadiq Khan and MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott treated gangster Kaba arsenic an guiltless unfortunate contempt his lengthy transgression grounds and relation successful TWO shootings successful the weeks starring up to his ain death.

Now the courageous constabulary serviceman involved, Sergeant Martyn Blake, inactive faces the sack and is successful hiding with a £10,000 bounty connected his head.

Why would immoderate constabulary serviceman hold to transportation a weapon erstwhile they could look prison, dismissal and threats to their ain beingness simply for bravely doing the occupation we inquire them to do?