Sunday 27 November 2022 10:08 PM Will Barbados make MP pay slavery 'debt'? Tory Richard Drax could be forced to ... trends now
Barbados is considering making a Conservative MP the first individual to pay reparations for his ancestors’ involvement in the slave trade.
Richard Drax, 64, has reportedly been threatened with legal action in the international courts by politicians on the Caribbean island if he refuses to comply with their demands.
He recently flew for a private meeting with the country’s prime minister Mia Mottley, who has put a report before her cabinet outlining the next steps.
The Drax family pioneered the plantation system in the 17th century and played a major role in the development of sugar and slavery across the Caribbean and United States.
Richard Drax, 64, has reportedly been threatened with legal action in the international courts by politicians on the Caribbean island if he refuses to comply with their demands
When slavery was abolished across the British Empire in 1833, the family received £4,293 12s 6d in compensation for freeing 189 enslaved people.
Barbados MP Trevor Prescod, chairman of Barbados National Task Force on Reparations, told The Observer: ‘If the issue cannot be resolved we would take legal action in the international courts. The case against the Drax family would be for hundreds of years of slavery, so it’s likely any damages would go well beyond the value of the [family’s] land.’
Among the plans being considered are turning the 17th century Drax Hall on the island into an Afro-centric museum and using parts of the plantation for social housing.
Mr Drax could be asked to pay for some works and taken to court if he does not oblige.
But critics have dismissed the harsh proposals as ‘politics’ ahead of Barbados’ Independence Day on Wednesday.
He recently flew for a private meeting with the country’s prime minister Mia Mottley, who has put a report before her
