Nigel Farage’s Reform Party Against Reparations

Nigel Farage’s British Reform Party has declared its intent to block visas to the UK from any nation that seeks reparations for slavery from Britain.

Zia Yusuf, the shadow home secretary who would oversee immigration policy should her party gain power in the next general election, stated this week that individuals from countries pushing for reparations would not be welcomed under a reformist government.

Yusuf pointed out nations including Antigua, Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, several Caricom states, Dominica, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, unless they retract their compensation claims.

She emphasized that, “Countries that have received 3.8 million visas and £6.6 billion in aid from Britain are now demanding trilions in reparations. Britain’s choice to abolish slavery was the most costly moral decision in foreign policy history. We will not be held accountable for it.”

Yusuf affirmed that, “Under a reform government, if a country calls for compensation, we will halt visa issuance.”

Farage added, “We are tired of being bullied by the UN and these nations. Reform Britain will deny visa applications from any country that insists on reparations for slavery. It’s time to stand firm.”

Yusuf argued that these countries overlook the sacrifices made by the British Empire to end the Western slave trade. In fact, the Empire dedicated considerable resources to abolishing slavery globally after becoming the first to outlaw it with the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act of 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.

For instance, the Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron managed to free around 150,000 enslaved individuals after seizing roughly 1,600 slave-trading vessels from 1807 to 1860, during which 1,587 personnel died in their campaign against slavery. Britain also played a part in combatting the slave trade in other regions.

However, left-wing activists argue that countries like Britain owe “trillions” in reparations to the descendants of enslaved individuals.

The reform proposals follow a recent UN resolution initiated by Ghana, calling for reparations for slavery and labeling the transatlantic slave trade as the most heinous crime against humanity. This comes despite the longer and often more brutal history of the Arab slave trade.

The current left-leaning British government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, has stated it will not agree to reparations. Nonetheless, at the upcoming Commonwealth conference, the Labour Prime Minister signed a document advocating for further dialogue on “reparative justice.”