Latest news with #Ribeiro-Addy
Middle East Eye
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
UK: Labour MP warns Starmer's immigration rhetoric could incite race riots
A former shadow immigration minister and Black Labour MP has strongly criticised UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's immigration rhetoric, warning it could incite civil unrest and repeat the injustices of the Windrush scandal. Earlier this week, Starmer caused consternation among several MPs when he said the UK risked becoming "an island of strangers" during a speech unveiling major immigration reforms in a newly published White Paper. The rhetoric was likened by some to the language used by Enoch Powell in his controversial 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech, in which he warned of a future where white people "found themselves made strangers in their own country". Bell Ribeiro-Addy, a Labour MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, told Middle East Eye's live show MEE Live that Starmer's rhetoric risked fuelling racism and emboldening the far right. "We have to remember that a lot of the time when people say there are too many migrants in this country, they're talking about people like me," said Ribeiro-Addy, who represents one of London's largest Afro-Caribbean communities. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "You are counting them by colours." How Starmer careened from honourable left to racist right Read More » Her comments come as Labour attempts to shore up support among socially conservative voters following losses to Reform UK in the recent local elections. Reform, which has campaigned on hardline immigration policies, made gains in several areas, prompting Starmer to double down on controlling migration as part of his strategy to win over disaffected Tory voters. But Ribeiro-Addy warned that Labour risks alienating core communities and repeating the mistakes of the past. "It wasn't so long ago that immigration legislation retrospectively applied ruined people's lives," she said. "We said we learned lessons from Windrush. And that's exactly the type of thing that's happening again." She also warned that the government's tone could lead to a repeat of last year's riots, which erupted in several towns after the murders in Stockport in August. In the aftermath of the killings, misinformation blaming migrant communities spread online, leading to targeted attacks, clashes with police, and protests organised by far-right groups. "I am extremely concerned that we would go about this in a way that stokes division and incites the far right," Ribeiro-Addy said. 'Shame on you, Keir Starmer' A number of other MPs also criticised Starmer's remarks, with Clive Lewis, a Labour MP for Norwich South, being among the first to compare it with Powell's "Rivers of Blood" speech. "It's simply not sustainable for the prime minister to echo the language of Enoch Powell's 'rivers of blood' speech - invoking the idea of 'living in a land of strangers'," Lewis told The Independent. Suspended Labour MP Zarah Sultana also accused Starmer of echoing Powell's speech. "That speech fuelled decades of racism and division. Echoing it today is a disgrace. It adds to anti-migrant rhetoric that puts lives at risk. Shame on you, Keir Starmer," Sultana posted on X. Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, said he would not have used the phrase "island of strangers", telling LBC: "The sort of language I use is different to the language used by others. "That's not the sort of words I would use." Meanwhile, Labour MP Richard Burgon took aim at the scapegoating of immigrants, saying: "Migrants didn't cause the housing crisis. Migrants didn't cause the NHS crisis. Migrants didn't drive up poverty levels. Years of austerity did all that. "If you want to improve people's lives, stop the cuts, introduce a Wealth Tax, and properly invest in our communities," Burgon wrote on X.
The Guardian
25-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Most Britons do not know scale of UK's involvement in slavery, survey finds
Britons are widely ignorant of the scale and legacy of Britain's involvement in slavery and colonialism, a survey has found, with the vast majority unaware how many people were enslaved, how long the trade went on for, or for how long UK taxpayers were paying off a government loan to 'compensate' enslavers after abolition. The poll, released to coincide with Tuesday's UN International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, was commissioned by the Repair Campaign, which is working with Caricom to secure reparatory justice for member states through health, education and infrastructure projects. The sample of more than 2,000 people representative of the UK population found 85% did not know that more than 3 million people had been forcibly shipped from Africa to the Caribbean by British enslavers. It also found 89% were unaware British merchants had enslaved people in the Caribbean for more than 300 years and that 75% did not know it was after 2000 that British taxpayers finished paying off the money borrowed by UK government in 1833 – equivalent to 40% of the government's total annual expenditure at the time – to compensate enslavers for their 'loss of property'. Nonetheless, the survey found support for some form of reparations is growing, with 63% now agreeing that Caribbean nations and descendants of enslaved people should receive a formal apology, up 4% from last year's poll, while support for financial reparations has also increased, with 40% now in favour. Ninety percent of those in favour of financial reparations said they should be directed toward long-term education, health and infrastructure projects. Bell Ribeiro-Addy, a Labour MP and chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Afrikan Reparations, said she was 'not surprised' about the lack of understanding about the scale of slavery, and that reparative justice also required education. 'People point to reparations and think merely in financial terms, but one of the most important things is correcting the record – because until people learn what happened there will not be that widespread, public will to make reparation possible,' she said. The Labour government has said the UK will not pay cash reparations, but is working with Caribbean partners on issues such as security, growth and climate change. Ribeiro-Addy said there had to be a 'willingness to listen' from the UK government, which is yet to make a formal apology for slavery, faced with a 'large chunk of the world' that was unified on the need for reparative justice. 'For us not to listen is disgraceful and could have consequences of its own,' she added. Walker Syachalinga, a solicitor at the law firm Leigh Day, which is investigating claims against institutions, companies and families, said of the survey's findings: 'They speak to what has been a feature of English law and commerce – this idea of offshoring the more unpalatable aspects of our history while retaining the benefits.' Denis O'Brien, Repair Campaign's founder, said the poll showed 'heartening' growth in public support for an apology and reparations, but also 'how little people in Britain really know about the country's past.' Dr Hilary Brown, a programme manager at Caricom Secretariat, said: 'Our shared humanity demands justice for the horrific crimes committed. Addressing the knowledge gap in the UK on the country's history of trading and enslaving Africans is urgent.'
Telegraph
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Displaying Egyptian mummies is ‘morally wrong and should be illegal'
Displaying ancient Egyptian mummies in museums is morally wrong and should be made illegal, according to a group of MPs. The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Afrikan Reparations has claimed that displaying Egyptian mummies is 'unethical' and disrespects 'wishes of the ancestors'. The group, chaired by Bell Ribeiro-Addy, a Labour MP, has called for legal changes to make popular displays of ancient mummified remains 'an offence'. MPs argued in a report called Laying the Ancestors to Rest that changes should be made to the Human Tissue Act 2004, which regulates the storage and display of remains. The report states that mummies were acquired under 'colonial regimes of exploitation' and that the image of 'the mummy' offers 'exoticised mystique for the Western audience'. It adds that mummies became 'object of racist pseudoscientific research, including in efforts to evidence that Egyptians were white Europeans'. Many African academics have attempted to argue that ancient Egyptians were black, a common belief in Afrocentric circles. Mummies are displayed in museums around the world, including in South Africa and Egypt itself. MPs in the APPG have, however, called on the UK government to prevent the sale of human remains, and to facilitate their return from museum collections to their countries of origin. Human remains are held by major institutions including the British Museum, the Natural History Museum and the museum attached to units including Oxford. Examples include Australian Aboriginal and Native American remains, South American shrunken heads, and bog bodies unearthed in the UK. During the 19th century, human remains were collected from around the world for scientific and anthropological research, often to provide objects of study in the discredited field of phrenology. A policy of returning human remains will assist the African diaspora in 'healing from the traumas of enslavement and colonial violence', the report has claimed. In a foreword to the report, Ms Ribeiro-Addy wrote that the new recommendations address 'the ethical, cultural and historical concerns surrounding African ancestral remains – many of which were taken during colonial rule'. She added: 'The continued presence of these remains in British institutions causes profound distress to diaspora communities and countries of origin, particularly when they are displayed or sold at auction.' The report notes that the display of human remains has become increasingly contentious in the 'context of ongoing debates about restitution and reparations '. Ms Ribeiro-Addy has long called for the UK to pay slavery reparations and in February spoke in Parliament to urge the Government to 'play a constructive role in addressing our country's legacy of slavery and colonialism'. The APPG for Afrikan Reparations also includes Clive Lewis, a Labour MP who has called for payments to be made to Caribbean nations, and Dianne Abbott, who last year called on Sir Keir Starmer to take action on the issue of reparations.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UK government, museums urged to stop display of ancestral remains, repatriate them
By Catarina Demony LONDON (Reuters) - Some British lawmakers, NGOs and researchers have called on the government to fix what they have described as a "legislative vacuum" that allows museums and other institutions to hold and display African ancestral remains taken during the colonial era. For centuries, African ancestral remains, such as mummified bodies, skulls and other body parts, were brought to Britain and to other former colonial powers, often as "trophies" or as commodities to be traded and displayed. There are growing calls worldwide for such remains, as well as looted art, to be repatriated to their communities or countries of origin. Although some efforts have been made to confront the long-standing issue, African remains are still held in various institutions across the country, such as museums and universities. "We cannot allow the dehumanisation of our ancestors," Connie Bell, from the 'Decolonising the Archive' project, said at an event on Wednesday organised by a cross-party parliamentary group on reparations, chaired by Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy. In November 2024, Ribeiro-Addy brought the issue to parliament, saying colonial-era remains were being listed for sale by auction houses, on e-commerce platforms and social media. A month before Ribeiro-Addy's remarks, an auction house in Tetsworth, Oxfordshire, withdrew a sale of such remains, including skulls from West Africa's Ekoi people, following criticism by native by local communities and advocates. UK's deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said it was horrifying to hear Ribeiro-Addy's account, and agreed to further discuss the issue. A meeting with the culture minister will take place soon, Ribeiro-Addy said on Wednesday. The cross-party group will present to the government 14 policy recommendations, including making all sales of remains illegal "on the basis they are not commercial objects but human beings". The policy brief, produced by the African Foundation for Development (AFFORD), said the government should close loopholes in the Human Tissues Act 2004, which covers the removal, storage, use and disposal of human tissue. The act does not, however, cover activities related to remains of people who died over a century ago, which excludes most ancestral remains held by museums and other institutions, AFFORD said. AFFORD said the act should be amended to make public display of human remains an offence if done without consent. It also said a national restitution policy should be adopted, a body should be created to handle repatriation claims and collections of human remains should be mapped out.
Reuters
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
UK government, museums urged to stop display of ancestral remains, repatriate them
LONDON, March 13 (Reuters) - Some British lawmakers, NGOs and researchers have called on the government to fix what they have described as a "legislative vacuum" that allows museums and other institutions to hold and display African ancestral remains taken during the colonial era. For centuries, African ancestral remains, such as mummified bodies, skulls and other body parts, were brought to Britain and to other former colonial powers, often as "trophies" or as commodities to be traded and displayed. There are growing calls worldwide for such remains, as well as looted art, to be repatriated to their communities or countries of origin. Although some efforts have been made to confront the long-standing issue, African remains are still held in various institutions across the country, such as museums and universities. "We cannot allow the dehumanisation of our ancestors," Connie Bell, from the 'Decolonising the Archive' project, said at an event on Wednesday organised by a cross-party parliamentary group on reparations, chaired by Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy. In November 2024, Ribeiro-Addy brought the issue to parliament, saying colonial-era remains were being listed for sale by auction houses, on e-commerce platforms and social media. A month before Ribeiro-Addy's remarks, an auction house in Tetsworth, Oxfordshire, withdrew a sale of such remains, including skulls from West Africa's Ekoi people, following criticism by native by local communities and advocates. UK's deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said it was horrifying to hear Ribeiro-Addy's account, and agreed to further discuss the issue. A meeting with the culture minister will take place soon, Ribeiro-Addy said on Wednesday. The cross-party group will present to the government 14 policy recommendations, including making all sales of remains illegal "on the basis they are not commercial objects but human beings". The policy brief, produced by the African Foundation for Development (AFFORD), said the government should close loopholes in the Human Tissues Act 2004, which covers the removal, storage, use and disposal of human tissue. The act does not, however, cover activities related to remains of people who died over a century ago, which excludes most ancestral remains held by museums and other institutions, AFFORD said. AFFORD said the act should be amended to make public display of human remains an offence if done without consent. It also said a national restitution policy should be adopted, a body should be created to handle repatriation claims and collections of human remains should be mapped out.
