Burchell questions Government over cost and planning of UK reparations mission

Opposition Spokesperson on Culture Nekeisha Burchell is demanding transparency over the Government’s recent diplomatic mission to London, questioning why a costly taxpayer-funded delegation was sent to present a slavery reparations petition despite knowing King Charles III would be away.

Her questions came in Parliament on Tuesday shortly after Culture Minister Olivia Grange, who led the delegation, announced that the King has referred the petition to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Eyebrows were raised among some members when word came that while the Jamaican delegation successfully served the petition, Charles was away on his annual summer holiday.

For Burchell, the questions should not be ignored because the mission was executed.

“Success at one stage of the legal process does not make every decision leading up to it beyond scrutiny,” she charged.

She continued: “So I ask: When was Buckingham Palace first asked for a courtesy call with His Majesty? When did the Governor-General's Office begin discussions with the palace? When did Government learn that the King was not home? What role did [the Ministry of] Foreign Affairs and our High Commission play? And if this mission had been planned for months, as we were led to believe, why were these matters not settled long before our strapping delegation arrived in London? The problem is not that the King had a schedule. Kings have schedules. The question is how Jamaica travelled all the way to England and apparently did not have the King's publicly known summer schedule.”

The Opposition spokesperson also underscored the importance of accountability, arguing that the public should be told the cost of the trip.

“How many persons travelled? What were their specific roles? Who paid? What was the total cost of airfare, accommodation, transportation, and other expenses? And what portion of that expenditure related specifically to the reparations mission versus what portion related to all of those other engagements? The pursuit of reparatory justice deserves national resources, we agree. But because the cause is worthy, every dollar spent in its name must also be worthy of the cause. And accountability is not hostility to reparations,” said Burchell.

She stressed, however, that the Opposition fully supports reparations, which she argued should not be a “partisan trophy”.

Earlier at the sitting, Grange hit back at critics of the visit to London.

“I've also taken note of commentary that perhaps the petition has not been filed because it did not physically deposit—we did not physically deposit it into the King's hand. I did not make a date with the King. And this is not the process. This is not how it works,” said Grange.

She argued that Jamaica’s push for reparations is to correct the wrongs of slavery and continue the fight started by the country’s ancestors who fought for freedom.

- Karen Madden

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