Much of the debate about reparations for slavery has so far been conducted in terms of whether Britain as a nation profited or not (Lloyd’s of London accused of ‘reparations washing’ over response to slave trade review, 8 November). There is an assumption in this that citizens of a nation state are automatically implicated in, and may be held responsible for, the actions of the government, military and ruling class of that nation.
There is little discussion about what the business of slavery meant for the working class in Britain at the time, the overwhelming majority of whom lived in abject poverty. Trickle-down economics was no more a reality in the 18th and 19th centuries than it is today.
