The UK government has rejected Jamaica’s demand for financial reparations over Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, reaffirming on September 7 that it will not enter negotiations or pay compensation, even as a Jamaican delegation formally petitioned King Charles III for $10 billion in compensation.
The petition was delivered to Buckingham Palace by a Jamaican delegation led by Minister of Culture Olivia Grange. The delegation travelled to the UK to present the demand in person, seeking not simply a political response but a legal examination of Britain’s historic responsibility for slavery.
The British government’s position remains unchanged. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “The UK does not pay and will not pay reparations.” While successive British governments have acknowledged the abhorrent nature of colonial practices and the significant benefits Britain gained from the slave trade, they have avoided issuing a formal apology or entering economic negotiations over reparations.
Jamaica’s petition takes a potentially significant procedural step by asking King Charles III to seek guidance from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. The body serves as the final court of appeal for Jamaica and several other Commonwealth territories. Jamaican officials argue that pursuing the issue through this legal channel could carry greater weight than a purely political appeal.
The petition asks three fundamental questions. It seeks an assessment of whether the enslavement of African people in Jamaica was lawful under English law at the time, whether the practice violated international law regardless of its domestic legality, and whether the United Kingdom bears a legal obligation to compensate for damages caused by the slave trade.
Because no Commonwealth member has previously pursued this specific legal avenue, the petition represents a notable precedent in the continuing reparations debate. Despite the British government’s rejection, Grange said she felt “encouraged” by the step that had been taken, indicating that Jamaican officials regard the legal filing itself as progress.
Grange also called for the return of Caribbean artefacts still held in British museums, linking the reparations demand to a broader campaign for restitution beyond financial compensation.
King Charles III was in Scotland when the petition was delivered in London, an absence that prompted criticism. Graham Smith, chief executive of the anti-monarchy group Republic, accused the king of “once again… seeks refuge whenever the issue of slavery and empire is raised”.
The Jamaican initiative comes amid continuing international debate over the legal and historical consequences of the transatlantic slave trade. A United Nations committee has determined that states have a legal obligation to consider reparations for the trade, arguing that efforts to eliminate racial discrimination cannot be separated from addressing the continuing damages and consequences of enslaved African trafficking and racialised slavery.
Jamaica’s relationship with Britain dates back to 1655, when the island became an English colony. Hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans were forced to work in Jamaica under more than 300 years of British rule and endured brutal conditions.
After Jamaica became independent in August 1962, it established diplomatic ties with the UK and joined the Commonwealth of Nations. Although independent since 1962, Jamaica has continued to recognise the British monarch as its head of State. Calls to replace the monarch have increased in recent years, and in December 2024 the Jamaican government tabled a constitutional amendment bill in parliament to replace the British King as head of State.
Britain’s involvement in the slave trade began in 1562. By the 1730s, the UK was the world’s biggest slave-trading nation, with British ships transporting more than three million Africans, mainly to the UK’s North American and Caribbean colonies.
Several Commonwealth nations have demanded reparations for Britain’s role. Britain previously compensated slave owners in 1833 for the “loss of their property” following legislation abolishing slavery in the British Empire. In March 2024, institutions including the Church of England pledged to establish a 1-billion-pound fund addressing its role in slavery.
Yet British governments have continued to reject reparations for countries affected by the slave trade. In October 2024, former UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said the British government would neither pay for slavery nor apologise for it. The British monarch has also not issued a formal apology for the Crown’s role in the transatlantic slave trade.
The Netherlands remains the only European country to have apologised for its role in the trade. In March, when the UN General Assembly voted to recognise the transatlantic slave trade as the “gravest crime against humanity”, many European nations, including the UK, abstained.
Jamaica’s petition therefore brings the dispute into a new phase, placing a demand for financial compensation alongside questions of legal responsibility, historical accountability and the restitution of cultural property.
