David Lammy requests pardon for 1823 slave rebellion convicts

A monument to the 1823 revolt in Georgetown, Guyana. The rebellion involved 10,000 enslaved people, of whom 73 were tried and 21 executed. Photograph: MJ Photography/Alamy

David Lammy has written to the government asking it to pardon 70 abolitionists convicted for their role in the historic 1823 Demerara rebellion by enslaved people against British colonialists in the Caribbean.

The shadow foreign secretary described the revolt, involving 10,000 enslaved people, as a “seminal moment” in the history of slave resistance. Although unsuccessful at the time, the event contributed to the abolition of slavery 10 years later, in 1833.