Recently, I participated in an interview for an new book on reparations by a British-born Black comedian and his co-writer. I had cautious optimism. This is a serious subject, and I was concerned that its nuances might be lost or diminished.
I recently read the book recently. In The Big Payback, the authors tackle a multifaceted, debated and polarising subject and do something both rare and necessary: they dismantle it into its core components and clarify, while correcting misconceptions why so many of the standard rebuttals to reparations are rationally unsound, lacking historical context or politically evasive.
They succeed in this without losing analytical precision or empathy, combining careful analysis with wit, even including a recipe and a dramatic piece. This reminds the reader that moral seriousness and creative generosity are are compatible.
Enslavement was not an isolated ethical lapse. It was an financial engine that propelled Britain’s rise … but left enduring inequalities in its wake.
As this year ends, the book has landed at a moment when the subject of reparations, long considered a peripheral topic in many European nations, has ignited globally. It is hard to argue that this has been a crucial period for the international justice effort – not because any resolution is in sight, but because the demand for justice has been galvanised.
In one camp, Caribbean nations, African states and diaspora groups are consolidating claims. In contrast, Britain continues to dismiss the matter casually. The chasm between the opposing stances is now the central story.
Dialogue or Dismissal?
In late last year, a commission traveled to London. They engaged with civil society groups, scholars, faith groups, campaigners and some lawmakers. The response from the UK government was markedly unenthusiastic. There were an absence of government leaders, no commitment to talks and no indication that reparations would be treated as a serious political issue.
It would be tempting to interpret this as a snub – and that is a common perception. But it is crucial to understand what the visit secured: dialogue was opened; reparations were discussed not as an vague ethical request but as a specific historical grievance based in law, economics and history. Even limited access helped strengthen the movement. Official inaction, after all, is not the same as stasis.
Framing the Debate
When pressed on the topic of reparations, the Prime Minister made it clear that his government would not be drawn into what he described as “never-ending conversations about reparations on the past”. This phrasing matters. It depicts reparations as indulgent and backward-looking rather than as a case arising from the very cornerstones of the contemporary UK.
This is exactly the narrative that the work examines. The authors insist reparations are not about shame or transferred responsibility, but about historical responsibility and present-day benefit. The tired refrain that “no one alive today owned slaves” is missing the mark when governments, businesses, financial institutions and landed estates persist as legal and economic entities that gained substantially from enslavement.
Reparations are a sustained effort aimed at fixing institutions as much as compensating people.
The assertion that reparations would be impossibly complicated fails in light of past examples – from Holocaust reparations to various post-colonial compensation schemes. Meanwhile, the apprehension that reparations would be socially destabilising is revealed as a projection rooted more in unease among elites than empirical evidence.
Institutionalising the Demand
The continental organisation declared 2025 to be the Year of Reparations, putting the issue at the forefront of its priorities for the first time. Leaders, advocacy groups and global African communities came together to affirm that this was not a symbolic demand, but a matter of equity, honor and growth.
Representatives quickly recognised that one year was not enough. Subsequently, the AU formally endorsed the next ten years as the Decade of Reparations. This extended initiative builds on a long history of advocacy and research.
Over the next decade, the AU has committed to building international backing, collaborating with civil society and the diaspora, promoting education and research and formulating strategies around the enduring consequences of the transatlantic trade, imperial rule and extraction.
Contrasting Approaches
In this climate, Britain’s insistence on “looking ahead” begins to look out of step. While the Global South nations are institutionalising reparations as a growth and equity program, the historical colonisers remain mired in evasion. The result is an asymmetry: one side is creating systems while the other is responding with quiet.
This gap is compounded by the hollowing out of international forums. Once imagined as a venue for reconciliation, they now cannot properly address post-colonial relations. That the issue of reparations has not secured a place from the main program speaks volumes about the organisation's shortcomings when confronted with issues that dispute past authority structures.
Immigration policy further exposes these hypocrisies. In recent years, harsher policies to migration, impacting most heavily on African, Caribbean and Latin American countries, have been implemented.
That reparations has not secured a place the docket speaks volumes about the restrictions of international bodies when confronted with historical hierarchies.
The rise of certain political movements has helped push immigration policy towards restriction and deterrence, creating domestic tensions while eroding the moral language of cooperation and common past.
Many countries continue to face tight travel restrictions despite shared histories. This feels like a stark paradox: the offspring of historical victims encounter barricaded frontiers from the very state that once claimed complete control to their lands, labour and resources. Set against the disgraceful unresolved legacy of past injustices, these restrictions deepen the sense that the post-imperial relationship is increasingly based on convenience.
Looking Forward
This does not imply that reparations are certain to happen, or that a settlement is near. The worries – about fiscal precedent, public opposition and liability issues – are genuine and will influence how the discussion progresses. But what 2025 has made clear is that reparations are far from being a fringe or occasional request. They are being systematised, globalised and mainstreamed as part of a broader reckoning with slavery, colonialism and global inequality.
The recent diplomatic activity, the ten-year continental plan, and the growing alignment between various groups all indicate a unified path. Compensation and repair, as the book make clear, are {not about dwelling in
