If the UK has to pay reparations, will other countries?

[Controversialname]

If the UK is made to pay reparations where will that leave other nations who were or indeed still are involved in slavery?

Are they?

Well if that’s how they feel, perhaps it’s time to end the club.

No. I said facts.

Check it in a history book.

The UK caused some of the biggest problems around the world.

Which was good for the UK. And bad for a lot of other countries.

Who exactly needs to apologise?

"Club"!

I don't think anybody wants to start the ''who did what'' train.

Because they too can then be implicated and be asked to pay.

Every government has the right to ask for reparations From another country if they want.

The UK has damaged a lot of countries. Which is why they are asking for reparations now.

Whena country is asking for reparations From another country, there is very little point to saying "well Spain invaded countries too!"

As that is not relevant to this particular case.

Not every country in the Commonwealth was colonised by the BE. The Commonwealth is a conglomerate of countries that work together to promote peace and prosperity and work on certain legislation, particularly human rights and business development.

Having the right is not the same as it being a wise thing to do.

Most countries, as has been mentioned countless times on this thread, are guilty of something.

Every government has the right to ask for reparations From another country if they want.

Yes, absolutely. And the country being asked has every right to say no.

But why always be so deflective and defensive.

It's like when people come on here and complain about men. And people come on and say "but women are bad too!"

No one is saying that other countries didn't do wrong.

We are talking specifically about the wrong that the UK did to other countries, as it is currently in the news, as the Commonwealth leaders want reparations From the UK

No. I said facts.
Check it in a history book.
The UK caused some of the biggest problems around the world.
Which was good for the UK. And bad for a lot of other countries.

I grew up in a country that was a former British Protectorate. It wouldn't exist today if it hadn't been, it would have been swallowed by its larger neighbour. It also had and has bugger all natural resources so that's not why the Brits were there.
There were some awful things done by the British empire, and some very good things. Rail infrastructure, literacy, medicine, the treatment of women and girls. The British outlawed suttee in India in 1829 so widows were no longer burned on their husbands' funeral pyres.
It's hugely complex and nuanced and you're reducing it to the level of tiktok.

Maybe because you seem to be practically gleeful of about making lives worse for a lot of people and think it is somehow justice.

Where are you from? Let us list your sins.

I would also suggest that if reparations relate specifically to the slave trade, that the countries concerned also speak to the descendents of the African and Arab slavers who were instrumental in the trade, but unlike Britain not remotely instrumental in ending it.

Well it's obvious the UK don't think that they should pay reparations anyway, or they would have done something to help already.

However, if the commonwealth leaders ask for reparations at a very public level, (is already on a lot of news sites) the UK leaders are going to have to say why they are saying no to eparations.

I'm interested to see what the UK leaders will say. Maybe they will give an apology

😂

You might get more sense out of a goldfish.

Even though I was actually right.

And you were completely wrong.

Dana June, did anybody ever tell you that you might make for a good politician?

I absolutely agree Britain's colonial past is something we have to understand, accept and apologise for. There also could be a good case for reparations but large cash payments to other governments is probably not the way to go.

For one it would be hellishly complex to work out who gets what and why, that is before you even get to how much and who pays. Also to try and identify the harm that is being compensated for is hard - is it tangible items or land stolen? Impacts on life chances? Denied opportunities? Deaths of ancestors in wars? The economic and emotional impact of having ancestors who were enslaved? Countries and individuals experienced British colonialism differently and are in different financial situations now.

Also as people have said, what about descendents of enslaved or colonialised peoples who are British citizens - do they have to contribute or are they also entitled to reparations?

The op hasn't posted on here in a while, has she?

Genuine question. Are you able to write a post without insulting someone?

I'm not stupid or thick or like a goldfish, just because you (random stranger) says I am.

Learn how to communicate without insults

Are you able to answer these questions?

1. Where do you propose the UK moves money from in order to pay reparations
2. Where are you from?

There’s no way we can afford it at the moment. Maybe we should seek reparations from the Italians, Scandinavians and the French first

Thanks! Thats probably not meant in a good way.

But yes, in the unlikely event that I ever became politician, I think I would be half decent.

I'm good at standing up for people and for saying a point anyway.

It's a fair question, given that you seem to be under the impression that the government could just hand over billions in reparations without it having any effect on British taxpayers.

It does seem like magical thinking rather than based on any kind of reality.

I do actually think if there are specific, identifiable items that were looted from countries that want them back and they are in public institutions we should give them back (& encourage private owners to do likewise), but that’s a separate issue from reparations.