As Britain teeters on the brink of financial disaster or worse, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and much of the Commonwealth are obsessing over the Atlantic slave trade three centuries ago. This might seem frivolous, like medieval theologians discussing how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. But a large amount of money is at stake. Caribbean and African states, claiming a unique degree of victimhood, are demanding “reparations” running into trillions of dollars. Britain’s bill would absorb six or seven years of gross domestic product.
So absurd is this demand that it cannot be meant seriously. It is the opening gambit to persuade London that a few hundred million is a price worth paying to stop the agitation. Of course, an alternative response would be simply to say no, but that would require more resolution than the present British government seems able to muster.
Gift articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.
