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?

And what do you think they use to pay the reparations? Dip into their own pockets?

They take money from one area, and put it into reparations. They don't have to pay reparations all in one go

That's how it works

Which area should they take it from?

In that scenario: It's up to the Government to look at the budget and decide.

As I said previously, it's not likely that the UK will pay reparations, but they wil have to give an answer on the topic.

So you would be happy if they decided to take money from services that personally affected you? Even if your ancestors had nothing to do with the slave trade or colonialism (which is the case for many people currently living in the UK)?

Yes I would be happy. We did take land, money and resources off them. If we owe them, we owe them

Why should it go one way and not the other.

Germany pays a pension to those actually affected directly by the holocaust not to generations afterwards. When those people die, and there's few left now, the payments stop.

As I've stated, my heritage is 100% Irish, not a drop of British blood in me and I very well know what the English colonisers did to my recent ancestors.

The idea that life should be fair to all is wonderful but it happened five minutes ago. Democracy and the concept of "human rights" is barely a blip on the long arc of human history and it's not at all certain that democracy will survive as a system of government beyond this century.

Life isn't fair, it's about as fair as it gets for some of us in 2024 and that's as much as we can demand.

Get over it.

"Get over it".

I don't think that the commonwealth leaders have.

And that is their choice.

Give over! Of course you wouldn't. You would be the first person to complain, probably to some poor minion, if you were not able to access a service.

But my point is that “we” did not. Nobody living in the UK currently personally took land, money and resources from the countries seeking reparations. We can’t be held responsible for the actions of the people who came before us, or where does it stop?

A lot of people currently living here do not have ancestors who would have been living in the UK at the time. Some will be the descendants of slaves - surely it would not be fair for them to pay reparations?

This has been said before on this thread.

No one has once said that the individual people in the UK have to do anything. It's the UK government that need to apologise for past actions (and give some reparation if they wanted to).

You said where does it stop. Instead of thinking that, couldn't we think "maybe it would be good to start"

You're shocked that one poster has empathy for other countries on here.

That says something.

Yes I would be fine with it.

But of course individual people are affected. Governments have no money of their own. It all comes from taxes. So either individuals would have to pay more or get less.

If you had a child who was suffering because you could not access a service then you would go mad. You would not sit there and say, ' those reparations have to be paid so my child will suffer.' If you did that then you lack empathy.
BTW, it's not a lack of empathy. It's understanding that I did nothing to enslave anyone. Neither did my ancestors, and as I have said, ad nauseum, mine were one step up from farm animals.

So which area do you think is available for it to be taken from?

I already answered that question.

The government would take the existing tax collected money, and allocate it differently. Eg a certain amount would be put towards reparations each year.

They wouldn't charge individual people more tax

Anyway as we've all said - the UK government are unlikely to pay any reparations.

The next question is , as the Commonwealth leaders are asking for reparations, do you think the UK government will issue a statement?

So I ask again: from where would YOU PERSONALLY support cuts to services? Because that is the reality. What would you vote for being cut in order for reparations to be paid?

And I'll say AGAIN,

I've already answered it!

Still waiting for the answer aren't we.

If I’ve missed it then I apologise, but all I can find from you is saying that the government will decide,

I just believe now that we won't get an answer because they don't live in the UK.