Britain must go beyond expressions of sorrow and commit to reparatory justice, according to Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the Member of Parliament for Clapham and Brixton Hill. She made the case in a comment piece published by The Voice on 14 October 2026, days before the fourth annual UK Reparations Conference in London.
A year of momentum
Ribeiro-Addy describes 2026 as an important year for the global reparations movement. In March, 123 countries at the United Nations General Assembly backed a Ghana-led resolution declaring the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans the gravest crime against humanity. She notes that Britain, which dominated that trade for much of the eighteenth century, chose to abstain.
She also points to a wider wave of action. CARICOM leaders have approved a revised Ten-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice, which calls for a full formal apology, debt cancellation and major investment in health, education and development. Jamaica is petitioning King Charles III on reparations and the legality of slavery, and the African Union and CARICOM are coordinating their efforts.
Britain's response
Ribeiro-Addy says successive British governments have offered regret but never an apology, let alone repair. She recalls that British taxpayers were still paying off the state loan used to compensate slave owners until 2015, while the enslaved received nothing. She argues that the wealth extracted through slavery and colonialism still shapes land ownership, debt burdens and health, housing and policing outcomes.
She also criticises efforts to reduce the debate to large sums of money in order to shut it down. In her view, the focus on money is a distraction, and the central issue is restoring power. As she puts it, the denial of agency was the crime, so agency has to be the remedy. Aid, she argues, leaves decision-making with the giver, while reparatory justice returns it to those from whom it was taken.
Call for a parliamentary inquiry
Ribeiro-Addy is calling for an All-Party Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry for Truth and Reparatory Justice. It would examine Britain's role in enslavement and colonialism, hear from those living with the consequences, and set out what repair requires. She notes that other countries have used truth commissions to confront their pasts, while Britain has never attempted one.
She says grassroots campaigners, who kept the issue alive through decades of dismissal, must lead what comes next. The conference takes place on Saturday 17 October 2026 at Friends House on Euston Road, London, where participants will review the year and set priorities for the next one.
Why it matters for Africa
The renewed momentum is closely tied to Ghana's diplomatic leadership at the UN. For Pan-African organisations, including the Pan-African Progressive Front, the growing coordination between the African Union, CARICOM and civil society is a sign that reparatory justice has moved from the margins to the centre of international debate.
About Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP
Bell Ribeiro-Addy is the Member of Parliament for Clapham and Brixton Hill and the founder of the annual UK Reparations Conference. She has used her platform in Parliament to press the case for reparatory justice and for Britain to confront its colonial past. She argues that the remedy must centre affected communities and restore their power, not only provide financial compensation.
Source: Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP, "The world has confronted slavery's horror. Britain must now do more than express sorrow,"