Decades-long global calls for reparations for the transatlantic slave trade have entered a new phase this September, as Jamaica has launched a formal legal push to hold the United Kingdom accountable for its historic role in the system of chattel slavery — even as British officials maintain their unyielding rejection of any financial compensation claims.
According to international media reports, a spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham confirmed that the British government’s decades-old policy remains unchanged: ‘the UK does not and will not pay reparations’ to former colonial territories impacted by the transatlantic slave trade.
The UK’s formal restatement of its position came just five days after Jamaica’s Culture Minister Olivia Grange submitted an unprecedented slavery-related petition to King Charles III on September 7, 2026. The request asks the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the UK-based supreme judicial body that historically handles appeals from Commonwealth nations, to review three core questions related to the legality of Britain’s slave trading practice and the UK’s potential responsibility for providing redress for its harms.
Contrary to some early media coverage that framed the petition as a direct demand for a set monetary sum, Grange has publicly clarified that the filing does not include a specified financial figure at this preliminary stage. Speaking with the Jamaica Observer, Grange explained that the petition was submitted through official, established channels after the Jamaican government received formal procedural guidance from Buckingham Palace. She also confirmed that a request for a courtesy meeting with King Charles was turned down, due to the monarch being in residence at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
The King’s absence drew sharp criticism from anti-monarchy activists. Graham Smith, chief executive officer of the UK-based campaign group Republic, told Al Jazeera: ‘Once again Charles ducks for cover when the issue of slavery and empire is raised.’
Jamaican officials argue that addressing the intergenerational harms of slavery demands far more than symbolic acknowledgment of historical suffering. The latest legal move aligns with a growing global momentum for reparatory justice that gained significant traction earlier this year, when the 80th United Nations General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution on March 25, 2026. The resolution formally classifies the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans as ‘the gravest crime against humanity’ in history.
Championed by Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, who leads the African Union’s work on reparatory justice, the resolution passed with overwhelming global support: 123 nations voted in favor, only three voted against, and 52 countries chose to abstain. Notably, the United Kingdom was among the abstentions, while all member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) voted in support of the text.
While the UK has consistently rejected calls for reparations, British officials have stated that they acknowledge the profound brutality of slavery and its lasting impact on global history. Jamaica’s latest legal action marks one of the most formal, institutional pushes for accountability from a former colonial territory to date, opening a new chapter in the global debate over historical responsibility for the transatlantic slave trade.