Reform plans to stop issuing visas to anyone from countries which demand reparations from the UK because of slavery, with the party insisting Britain will “no longer tolerate being ridiculed on the world stage”.
Zia Yusuf described the demands for compensation as “insulting”, accusing countries that are demanding reparations of ignoring “the fact that Britain made huge sacrifices to be the first major power to outlaw slavery and enforce this prohibition”.
Writing in The Telegraph, Reform’s home affairs spokesperson said the “bank is closed and the door is locked” for anyone who wanted to “use history as a weapon to drain our treasury”.
Writing that more than 3.8 million visas have been issued to people from countries calling for reparations over the last two decades, Mr Yusuf added: “For too long, the British people have watched with bewilderment and justifiable anger as our political class allows this country to be treated like a global doormat.
“We are told to hang our heads in shame, to apologise for our past, and – most outrageously – to open our wallets to pay ‘reparations’ for supposed sins committed centuries ago.
“The era of British self-flagellation ends here. Today, Reform UK is drawing a line in the sand. We are putting the world on notice – the United Kingdom is not an ATM for ethnic grievances of the past, and we will no longer tolerate being ridiculed on the world stage.
“While countries like Jamaica, Nigeria and Ghana ramp up their demands for reparations, the Westminster establishment has rewarded them. Enough is enough.”
Reform UK has previously promised to scrap international aid for countries demanding reparations.
Mr Yusuf’s remarks come after a 2023 report on reparations for the slave trade, drafted by former International Court of Justice judge Patrick Robinson, recommended the UK should pay a total of £18.8 trillion in reparations to 14 countries.
In 2024, Sir Keir Starmer faced growing demands to open talks on reparations at a major Commonwealth meeting in Samoa.
The PM was forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain would discuss reparations, but ministers have said any talks will not be about monetary compensation.
At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Sir Keir said that this generation should have a conversation about the history of slavery, but added that the UK should be “forward-looking” in its stance on reparations.
Asked if he thought this generation could be held responsible for the actions of their forebears, the prime minister told the BBC: “I think our generation can say the slave trade and practice was abhorrent, and we should, you know, we talk about our history. We can’t change our history, but we should certainly talk about our history.”
Meanwhile, chancellor Rachel Reeves said Britain could not afford to pay reparations for its part in the slave trade.
Reparations have been demanded by a number of countries, including Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Belize, Guyana, Suriname and Montserrat.
Kanye West banned from entering UK after row over headlining Wireless Festival
North Sea gas saves UK billions a year, analysis shows amid calls for more drilling
Mapped: Where temperatures in the UK could reach 25C this week
Met Office issues week-long ‘red alert’ for hay fever
We won’t help save Wireless Festival by meeting Kanye West, say Jewish leaders
PM risks Trump’s wrath as he ‘refuses to allow US to use UK bases to strike Iran’
