Letters: the real problem with a Labour super-majority

Good trade-off

Sir: I applaud your excellent editorial (‘Trading in Falsehoods’, 6 April) – a succinct and insightful essay on the role of Great Britain in the abolition of slavery and the slave trade. All are agreed that slavery in any form was and is reprehensible. As a white and proud Barbadian, initially educated there, I contend that some of my ancestors, who were probably slave owners, did not believe that they were involved in anything immoral or sinful, but were serving the economic interests of the Empire as they saw it at the time. You rightly point out that the huge cost in treasure and lives incurred by Britain and the Royal Navy in ending the slave trade is largely ignored.

The current clamour for reparations -– particularly from the Prime Minister of Barbados – is ironic, considering that the island is one of the most highly developed and successful economies in the western world with a very high GDP per capita, one of the best literacy and education systems, a stable democracy, respected judiciary, free press and a Christian ethos.