The Neokrat

I have long argued that whatever reparations are offered by Britain, no credible figure is payable and no payable figure is credible. But moral atonement for the ravages of colonialism is indispensable. I am glad to learn that Prime Minister Burnham is prepared to offer a formal apology on behalf of the British state for the horrors of slavery. But the omission of colonialism from his apology is inexplicable and inexcusable. It remains deeply shameful that Britain has never said a simple “sorry” for the loot, pillage, death and destruction perpetrated during the colonial era on millions of innocent victims of British imperialism. thehindu.com/news/internatio…

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.

Texas A&M is packed to see James Talarico

In today's Whitehouse on a Halloween party we a kid wearing a russian military uniform with a modern russian tank forces patch featuring Armata tank. This is a carefully crafted political message by someone in Trump's inner circle. This isn't a coincidence. Troops wearing this patch are currently pillaging and raping Ukrainian children, while their supporters and enablers sends their kids to celebrate Halloween with the USA president.