Reform UK has announced it would stop issuing visas to individuals from any country that continues to demand compensation from the UK for its historical role in the transatlantic slave trade. The party's home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, described the reparations calls as 'insulting' and claimed that 3.8 million visas had been issued over the past two decades to people from nations seeking reparations.
Yusuf told the Daily Telegraph: 'A growing number of countries are demanding reparations from Britain. These countries ignore the fact that Britain made huge sacrifices to be the first major power to outlaw slavery and enforce this prohibition.' He added that the 'bank is closed and the door is locked' for anyone seeking to 'use history as a weapon to drain our treasury.'
The announcement follows a United Nations vote last month that described the transatlantic slave trade as the 'gravest crime against humanity' and called for reparations. The resolution, backed by the African Union and the Caribbean Community (Caricom), was proposed by Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama. The UK and EU members abstained, while the US voted against the non-binding resolution.
Reform UK had previously pledged to scrap international aid for countries demanding reparations. In 2023, a report by former International Court of Justice judge Patrick Robinson concluded the UK alone should pay $24 trillion (£18.8 trillion) in reparations for transatlantic slavery across 14 countries.
However, the Caricom Reparations Commission (CRC) has denied seeking to 'break the British Treasury.' Its chair, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, stated during a London lecture that the commission's aim is to identify mutual strategies for a restorative justice programme, not to demand trillions of pounds.
