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3h ago

Sir Lenny Henry Calls for £18 Trillion Reparations, Including Payments to Black Britons

The forthcoming book cites vast economic estimates, proposing a financial‑transactions levy to raise the money.

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Sir Lenny Henry suggests Caribbean nations and black British citizens should receive the money
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Overview

  • In The Big Payback, out Thursday via Faber, Henry and co-author Marcus Ryder argue that compensation should go to Caribbean nations and to all black people living in the UK.
  • The authors say present-day racial disparities, including higher unemployment and over-representation in prisons, flow from the transatlantic slave trade.
  • The case draws on a Brattle Group analysis valuing harms at roughly $100 trillion and a 2023 University of the West Indies estimate of more than £18 trillion for 14 Caribbean states.
  • Funding ideas in the book include a small levy on global financial trades and repurposed sanctions revenues, with economist Bhavik Doshi suggesting such a tax could raise up to £117 billion per day.
  • UK ministers have reiterated there will be no cash transfers related to slavery reparations, even as the proposal fuels fresh polling and commentary across national outlets.