Return the Danegeld: the reparations Britain is owed

Should Britain return colonial artefacts? For some, the answer is easy: of course. But these people must also be consistent and realise that the arguments posed for the return of stolen goods cut both ways. Just as they can be applied to make the case that the United Kingdom should pay out where it has plundered, they can be used to argue that Britain should be compensated where it was wronged.

While we might want to return the Benin bronzes – plundered in a punitive expedition after the massacre of an unarmed British delegation – we should also be looking to reclaim the various treasures stolen from us. The idea of compensating a country with the world’s sixth largest economy might take some time for people to adjust to, so I’m going to suggest we start small. We should begin by asking Holland to return the arms of King Charles II (on display in the Rijksmuseum) looted in the battle of Medway, of which the least said the better.