In the Caribbean 14 nations – including a good number of Commonwealth members – are attempting to sue the British government for reparations for four centuries of slavery, and Britain is using jurisdiction issues arising from the Commonwealth to block the claim.īut why, to borrow the words of those who insist slavery left no trace of intergenerational injustice, talk ancient history? This very week, as the Commonwealth flags were proudly flying in Parliament Square, the government finally met Caribbean leaders after a public outcry over the cruel treatment of Windrush citizens forced a U-turn on immigration policy. As a result, Africa loses £30bn more each year than it receives in aid, loans and remittances. In Britain’s case, the Commonwealth has served very nicely to advocate its particular shopping list: liberalised, extractor-friendly regimes, low corporate tax rates, and a creative system of tax havens predominantly located in – you guessed it – other Commonwealth countries. At present, British companies control more than $1 trillion worth of Africa’s key resources: gold, diamonds, gas and oil, and an area of land roughly to four times the size of the UK.Īll countries use diplomacy to lobby in their own interests – there is nothing wrong with that. Take Britain’s relationship with the African continent, for example. This is not a question of conjecture, but of fact.
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