Latest Commentaries
Thursday 9 July 2026
All of Sir Ronald's commentaries up to June 18, 2026 can be read in the "Commentaries" section of this website. The most recent one is entitled, "The Vulgarity of Asking the Enslaved to Pay".
Former Brtish government Minister, now far right supporter, Suella Braverman has claimed that Britain’s former colonies should pay reparations to Britain – a position that turns the history of slavery and empire upside down and insults the memory of those who were enslaved and never compensated.
In my new commentary, “The Vulgarity of Asking the Enslaved to Pay”, I revisit the record of British rule in the Caribbean: centuries of wealth extraction from sugar and bananas, the deliberate fragmentation of the region, and the stark fact that slave owners were paid lavishly while the enslaved received nothing.
I also explore what Braverman’s argument reveals about contemporary politics in Britain, including the refusal to accept responsibility for slavery’s legacy and the willingness to punish those who press legitimate claims for reparative justice.
Caribbean societies still live with the economic and social consequences of that past. Reparations speak to those enduring realities and to the need for measures that recognise and repair them.
See the full text in the commentaries section of this website.