# PROFESSOR DOUG STOKES: Ending slavery cost Britain far more than it ever profited from the trade. The demand for reparations is simply blackmail

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/professor-doug-stokes-ending-slavery-cost-britain-far-more-than-it-ever-profited-from-the-trade-the-demand-for-reparations-is-simply-blackmail/
- Published: 2026-11-03T10:18:55+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-03T10:29:22+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/debate/article-16260311/Ending-slavery-cost-Britain-far-profited-trade-demand-reparations-simply-blackmail.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Africa, Americas, UK, World

## Key points

- Stokes rejects calls for British slavery reparations.
- A report puts the proposed sum at £19.7 trillion.
- He argues slavery was not the foundation of Britain’s prosperity.

## Summary

Professor Doug Stokes argues that Britain should not apologise or pay reparations for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, which he says was abhorrent but did not create the country’s overall prosperity. He criticises Green Party spokesperson Princess Antoinette Fernandez’s campaign for compensation and Andy Burnham’s openness to a formal apology.

Stokes cites a University of the West Indies report estimating reparations at £19.7 trillion, more than 14 times the UK Government’s annual budget. He says slavery enriched some British merchants and regions, but argues that industrial innovation and the work of the wider population were the main sources of national wealth; he also points to modern slavery in countries seeking reparations.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.