Italy owes Wales reparations for the wrongs of the Roman Empire

There’s talk of reparations in the air. Lobbyists from around the world are demanding sin-payments from former colonial powers. Let me add my voice to the clamour on behalf of this island’s indigenous Celtic people. My family are from Llanelli in Carmarthenshire and I believe that my compatriots have an excellent case to make against the Roman empire. This is not an extinct claim – the money is still in play.

Britain was invaded by Julius Caesar in 55 BC and his visit was followed up a century later by the Emperor Claudius and his mob. The Roman occupation, which involved the military subjection of the Celtic peoples, lasted for about four centuries. The transfer of Celtic slaves to Rome was part of the normal commerce of empire; now have a look at Italy in the present day. It attracts over 60 million tourists a year: some of those tourists are keen to inspect Roman ruins, some of those ruins were built by slaves, and some of those slaves came from Britain.