Tony Blair 'deeply sorry' for the 'Shame of Slavery'

[JI7]

<LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tony Blair has expressed "deep sorrow" for Britain's role in the slave trade nearly 200 years after the legislation that led to its abolition.

However Blair's statement will stop short of a full apology despite pressure from some black campaigners and community leaders, the newspaper said.

"I believe the bicentenary offers us a chance not just to say how profoundly

"shameful the slave trade was -- how we condemn its existence utterly and praise those who fought for its abolition -- but also to express our deep sorrow that it ever could have happened," Blair said in a statement due to appear in New Nation, a newspaper aimed at the black community.
Blair will also back a United Nations resolution by Caribbean countries to honour those who died at the hands of international slave traders, the Observer said.

The issue has come to a head in the build-up to next March's bicentenary of the Slave Trade Act. An advisory committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has been planning the commemorations, including a solution to how Britain should acknowledge its historic responsibility, the newspaper reported.

Government advisers had warned that a full apology could provoke claims for reparations, it said.>


http://www.kenyanewsnetwork.com/artman/publish/article_1719.shtml

[SemperEadem]

1. yeah, and?

"Government advisers had warned that a full apology could provoke claims for reparations, it said."

That imperial crown would be a good place to start liquidating.

So, going in and not only taking people, but taking more than the manifest allowed you to take and midway through the sickening voyage to an unknown land, tying stones around the necks of those considered too unfit--or whatever--and tossing them into the drink is an act that should not be apologized for? An apology for the sheer barbarism by which these people operated and their progeny profitted should be forthcoming from those who consider themselves to be 'christian'.

[dipsydoodle]

3. Claims for reparations

This subject was news back in the summer of 2001. As a result of 9/11 and the subsequent collapse of all other news, mention of the issue seemed to lapse. My understanding at the time was it was the Corporations, such as the sugar companies for example, against whom reparations would be pursued. If that was to be the case I'm guessing this subject would be in and out of court for the rest of my life.

If governments, including all of the arab states who actually ran the trade, were to make reparations to whom would they be paid ?

[SoftUnderbelly]

9. well

clearly slavery should be appologised for - by the people who were responsible. unless you know of any 200+ year old retired slave traders anywhere then i dont think thats going to happen.

[rfranklin]

2. Will the Africans who sold their brothers into slavery apologize too?

While the European enslavement of African people has been well documented, slavery was prevalent in all societies and not necessarily based on skin color. It has been a favored practice for thousands of years and exists today, hidden in the U.S. but practiced openly in places in the Middle East.

[Mike Daniels]

7. It seems like everyone forgets the part African leaders/chieftains played

Leaders of waring tribes were all too happy to make a profit off their fellow man.

Will ancestors of slaves ask for reparations from the countries that provided the slaves as well? Probably not.

[Captain Hilts]

8. It oftenwas Africans who sold Africans. There was a dollar in it for a lot of people. nt

[marshall]

14. What about the Inquisition?

I'm waiting for the Spanish to apologize for that.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. Yes that was bad. Wrong. Now what about that war in Iraq?

There are some ongoing crimes that need your attention Tony.

[robcon]

5. It's LBN that Blair regrets slavery???

Next, it'll be LBN that water is wet.

[Benhurst]

6. Breaking News: Blair appologises for

the treatment of the Anglo Saxons by Her Majesty's ancestors. He says reparations are being considered.

[dipsydoodle]

11. Wrong line of comparison

The Anglo Saxons were subdued by William of Normandy who was French from a Viking bloodline.

I do however agree that there are comparisons to be made. Like for example - restoring all land rights back to your own native population !

[Benhurst]

20. And it is the bloodline of that French bastard upon which the

royal family bases it's claim to the throne.

It's all quite silly, since it is more than probable Victoria was a bastard and ended any claims to legitimacy upon ascending the throne.

But then possession is nine-tenths of the law, or so it is said.

[Woolwich]

28. Wrong Bloodline

Its the german royal family.

[Benhurst]

29. Which laid claim to the same bloodline through

Sophia, electress of Hanover and granddaughter of James I. The Act of Settlement passed over many Roman Catholics in the normal line of succession, but the bloodline was claimed, nonetheless.

Of course, if Victoria was, as has been recently claimed, a bastard, then the bloodline ended with her Uncle, William IV.

[Woolwich]

32. Yeah,

Their claim is about as strong as mine. And although I much prefer Her Maj. to Mr Tony as head of state I guess it doesn't make much difference.

[Vidar]

10. A bit of current shame might come in handy.

[Bigmack]

12. Maybe there's an historical lesson here...

The Brits ended slavery long before the US did, and did it without violence.

"The air of England is too pure for a slave to breathe, and so everyone who breathes it becomes free. Everyone who comes to this island is entitled to the protection of English law, whatever oppression he may have suffered and whatever may be the colour of his skin." Crown Judge William Murray, June 22, 1772

What does it say about the US that it hung onto slavery even after it was economically unsound?

Maybe we have a "stubborn" gene that will not admit we made a mistake and are sorry for it.

Do I need to draw lines to the Filipino Insurrection, Vietnam, and Iraq wars as examples?

[closeupready]

13. Short of a full apology, restitution will not have been made.

What does it say about a collective memory that 200 years on, slaves' descendants still want justice? It tells me that a full apology and nothing less will ever suffice.

[Nihil]

25. Say a lot about a "collective memory" to me ...

... namely that some people are totally delusional ...

> 200 years on, slaves' descendants still want justice

Maybe they want to have a look at the world NOW and channel their
energy into saving *their* children rather than getting a meaningless
apology from a known liar concerning a biased, incomplete history of
some of their ancestors.

[closeupready]

30. Maybe, maybe not. How sure are you

that every one of these people doesn't support Blair and the Iraq War? And anyway, that's entirely a different issue. Some people are totally delusional, but so what?

[AngryAmish]

15. Apologize?

The British did more than almost anyone else to end slavery.

[closeupready]

18. Can you be more specific?

Thanks.

[AngryAmish]

19. Off the top of my head

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolitionism (see the british part)

It caused the British no end of trouble trying to stop the slave trade in Africa and the Middle east.

[davepc]

16. What brought this all about?

The Slave Trade Act of 1807 empowered the Royal Navy to board and capture suspected slaver ships, and hang the crew as pirates.

The UK outlawed slavery hundreds of years ago, and in fact was on of the few nations to use its military power to curb it.

http://www.pdavis.nl/Legis_06.htm

[closeupready]

17. If more indigenous people and racial minorities

also belittled the efforts of slave's descendants to seek justice, then I could maybe see the point. However, it seems it's always the subjugators' descendants who do so. Not trying to stir anything up, just raising a longheld view of mine.

[Irreverend IX]

21. Blair regrets the "shame of slavery?"

It's about time! The little bastard spent so many years kowtowing to Dubya's every whim I never thought he'd feel the slightest trace of guilt for selling out his count...

Wait, you mean he's apologizing for the African slave trade?

Never mind, then. I hope Tony's chains are resting lightly on him.

[Bryn]

22. When Will Scotland Apologize for

Highlanders Clearance to make room for the sheep? Many of our ancestors ended up here in USA by force? Is this so?

[unkachuck]

23. yo, Tony....

....you may have expressed 'deep sorrow' over the slave trade but I'll bet you'll hang on to the wealth and power it brought you and your country....

....if you really want to honor those who died in your slave trade, dig deep into your countrys' pocket and help those slave-decendents where ever you find them in the world....

....anything less Tony, is political bullshit....

[Nihil]

24. How about digging into your pockets as well?

We stopped the slave trade. I wonder which other nation that became
rich from it kept slavery going for a long time afterward ...?

[Mike Daniels]

26. Don't forget to challenge the current rulers in African countries as well

[samsingh]

27. when will he be deeply sorry for the civil war in Iraq?

[Orsino]

31. At this rate, in two or three hundred years. n/t

[samsingh]

33. Blair is an idiot

he's a complete waste after the huge expectations we all had.