UK MP could be sued by J’ca for family’s role in slavery
Caribbean islands have been threatening to sue the Crown for its role in slavery and Jamaica is the latest to add its voice to the list of growing concerns.
On Thursday, Jamaica’s National Council on Reparations reported that it is looking into whether they should seem compensation from a wealthy Conservative United Kingdom Member of Parliament, Richard Drax, for his family’s historical role in slavery.
According to reports, Richard Drax’s ancestors were pioneers of the sugar and slave trades in the Caribbean about 400 years ago and he is now facing demands to pay Barbados for harm caused by slavery at an estate he inherited in that country.
Reports from the BBC indicated that the council in Jamaica is also examining the case for pressing Drax for damages.
Drax said he did not wish to comment on the reparations claims.
The matter stemmed from a report from the British press which suggested that the government of Barbados was planning to demand reparations from Drax.
Historical documents stated that in the 16th and 19th centuries, millions of Africans were enslaved and transported across the Atlantic by Europeans and Americans as a labour force to work, especially on plantations.
Members of the Drax family were among the earliest English colonists to establish sugar plantations built on slave labour in Barbados and Jamaica in the Caribbean. A member of the Drax family was awarded £4,293 12s 6d — worth £3m today — for 189 slaves when the slave trade was abolished by the British Parliament in 1833.
This story was first published by Antigua News on December 7, 2022: antigua.news/2022/12/07/uk-mp-could-be-sued-by-jca-for-familys-role-in-slavery. © 2022 Antigua News. Republication without permission is not allowed.
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