Timø

Slavery was an evil in which people from every continent and region participated. We should be honest about the whole history, not select the parts that are politically convenient today, especially given Britain's leading role in ending the transatlantic slave trade. If Caribbean countries are asking Britain for a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, will they also be asking the same of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade? On demands for reparations, whether through cash or debt relief, we have been down this track before. Twenty-five years ago, Jubilee 2000, Drop the Debt and Make Poverty History argued that cancelling the debts of poorer countries would give them a fresh start. More than $100 billion of debt was eventually written off, but many of those countries have since built up even bigger debts. Labour are already spending too much on Britain's welfare state, now is not the time for Andy Burnham to be providing global welfare. There is no reason British taxpayers today should be held financially responsible for things that happened generations before any of us were born. And I have even less patience for political elites in commonwealth countries who don’t know how to make their own citizens prosperous now looking for another opportunity to blame Britain. As Prime Minister, Andy Burnham should be Britain’s greatest defender. Instead, he is writing articles saying we need to confront our history (as if we haven't done enough of that) and considering another formal historical apology. Tony Blair already expressed Britain’s deep sorrow and regret for our role in the slave trade nearly twenty years ago. There is no need to do so again. This is all another navel-gazing distraction. The Commonwealth should be looking forward, not endlessly backwards. That means economic partnerships to make us all richer and deeper military and security cooperation against common threats. If every Commonwealth summit becomes an exercise in presenting Britain with demands for cash then we need to start asking if it is worth the effort.

Remember when using the wrong pronoun got people canceled? That was dumb.

Mississippi Attorney General: Police "Justified" to Shoot 1-Year-Old A police investigation into alleged stolen diapers and baby clothes k*lled a 1-year-old Black boy in Mississippi, enraging many over yet another state-sanctioned m*rder of Black children. Kohen Wiley was seated in the lap of his mother, Vellesiya Wiley, while they drove away from a Walmart store on 14 June in the city of Senatobia, in the US state of Mississippi. While officers claim Vellesiya’s friend, Latoya Ferrell, drove toward the police car, the gun shots hit the side of Ferrell’s car, raising questions about the officers’ claim. Ferrell was also critically injured. The k*lling of a Black toddler is yet another in a long line in the 407-year-old g*nocide of African people in the US. According to a data analysis by the Washington-based Children’s National Hospital, police are six times more likely to k*ll Black children aged 12 to 17 than white children of the same age group. Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch released a statement on 19 October that the shooting was "justified" and Police Sgt. Hunter Foster would not face criminal charges. However, the family has since reviewed police footage and refute Fitch's claim. The city announced on 16 June that one police officer had been placed on leave. Foster has resigned. Kohen Wiley would have turned 2 on 1 November.

Nigeria and Ghana are countries, but that North Korea is nothing short of hell on earth. The people are trapped, exhausted and tired of the choices they have been left with. No human being deserves to live under such conditions.