Gabrielle Wilde
Guest Reporter
Keir Starmer's stance on slavery reparations has put Labour in "hot water", according to author Krish Kandiah.
Starmer has rejected calls for slavery reparations ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa, sparking a heated debate on GB News.
Kandiah explained: "I am normally quite sympathetic to the Labour Government, but I think the Government's got itself into a lot of hot water on this issue. The UK has quite a few issues, actually.
"I find myself on the other side of the debate on things like the Winter Fuel Payments and the two-child benefit cap.
"So this feels like it's in the same category that people that would normally be supportive of and the Government are finding themselves on the opposite side."
Kandiah explained: "We were one of the key players in starting the transatlantic slave trade, where we paid the reparations to the slave owners."
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He criticised the Government's decision to compensate slave owners, noting it had a "generational impact" and took until 2015 to pay off the debt.
However, host Bev Turner did not seem to agree with the comments.
She said: "You use those examples of the Winter Fuel Payment and not having we don't have enough money to pay child benefit in in the right way.
"There'll be people screaming at the TV this morning saying, hang on a minute. We can't even afford to support the living people in this country at the moment. And you want us to give trillions of pounds to other countries."
Kandiah responded: "The Prime Minister could start with an apology."
Andrew pointed out: "That is because the lawyers say don't. If you apologise, it's liability.
"Then that's money. And how can you possibly put a figure on what you assume to be the right.
"And who are you going to compensate, by the way? They're all dead."
Starmer defended his position, saying: "I've talked to a lot of our Commonwealth colleagues in the Commonwealth family and they're facing real challenges on things like climate in the here and now."
He added: "That's where I'm going to put my focus rather than what will end up being very, very long endless discussions about reparations on the past."
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Starmer has rejected calls for slavery reparations ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa, sparking a heated debate on GB News.
Kandiah explained: "I am normally quite sympathetic to the Labour Government, but I think the Government's got itself into a lot of hot water on this issue. The UK has quite a few issues, actually.
"I find myself on the other side of the debate on things like the Winter Fuel Payments and the two-child benefit cap.
"So this feels like it's in the same category that people that would normally be supportive of and the Government are finding themselves on the opposite side."
Kandiah explained: "We were one of the key players in starting the transatlantic slave trade, where we paid the reparations to the slave owners."
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He criticised the Government's decision to compensate slave owners, noting it had a "generational impact" and took until 2015 to pay off the debt.
However, host Bev Turner did not seem to agree with the comments.
She said: "You use those examples of the Winter Fuel Payment and not having we don't have enough money to pay child benefit in in the right way.
"There'll be people screaming at the TV this morning saying, hang on a minute. We can't even afford to support the living people in this country at the moment. And you want us to give trillions of pounds to other countries."
Kandiah responded: "The Prime Minister could start with an apology."
Andrew pointed out: "That is because the lawyers say don't. If you apologise, it's liability.
"Then that's money. And how can you possibly put a figure on what you assume to be the right.
"And who are you going to compensate, by the way? They're all dead."
Starmer defended his position, saying: "I've talked to a lot of our Commonwealth colleagues in the Commonwealth family and they're facing real challenges on things like climate in the here and now."
He added: "That's where I'm going to put my focus rather than what will end up being very, very long endless discussions about reparations on the past."
Find Out More...