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Robert Jenrick has been accused of “an obnoxious distortion of history” after saying former British colonies should be grateful for the legacy of empire.
The Conservative Party leadership hopeful said Commonwealth nations owe Britain a “debt of gratitude” for the democratic institutions they inherited after gaining independence from the UK.
Writing in the Daily Mail, he said: “Many of our former colonies — amid the complex realities of empire — owe us a debt of gratitude for the inheritance we left them.”
Mr Jenrick, a former Home Office minister, is battling against Kemi Badenoch this weekend to head up the Tory Party.
Speaking to The Independent, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Afrikan reparations, described Mr Jenrick’s remarks as deeply offensive.
“These comments are deeply offensive and an obnoxious distortion of history,” the MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill said.
“Enslavement and colonialism were not ‘gifts’ but imposed systems that brutally exploited people, extracted wealth, and dismantled societies, all for the benefit of Britain.
“To suggest that former colonies should be ‘grateful’ for such unimaginable harm disregards the legacy of these injustices and the long-term impact they still have on many nations today.”
The MP suggested that such comments from Mr Jenrick may serve to alienate Britain from the international community and harm economic prospects.
“Following Brexit, we need to establish ourselves as a nation that everyone can do business with; we cannot afford such vile baseless commentary,” she explained.
“Whilst it might send perfectly pitched dog whistles for a Tory leadership contest, these insulting sentiments are catastrophic for international relations.
“Any wannabe leader should have the sense to understand that.”
Labour councillor Zainab Asunramu suggested Mr Jenrick’s comments show that he’s unfit to be the next Conservative Party leader.
“Raping, pillaging, murdering and enslaving Black people and subjecting them to sustained, abhorrent, inhumane and degrading treatment…that is a legacy he is proud of?,” she said.
“Jenrick is not fit for office, let alone to be a leader of any political party in the UK.”
Writer Ian Birrell added: “Just when you thought Jenrick couldn’t look any more desperate and ridiculous….”
Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, lawyer and activist, described Mr Jenrick as a “political illiterate”, adding: “Britain would be nothing without colonised African and Asian nations.”
Mr Jenrick has addressed the topic of slavery reparations before, recently calling Britain to reject such calls.
During a speech at the Henry Jackson Society, a right-wing think tank, last week, he said: “While the topic of overseas aid and reparations is being discussed, let me confront it head-on.
“We must unequivocally reject these claims, they are based on false and misleading narratives about our past, after all it was Britain that worked harder than nearly any other country to eradicate the slave trade.”
This comes after dozens of Commonwealth nations, many of whom are former colonies and territories of Britain, lobbied Britain to discuss reparations at a recent summit.
Prime minister Keir Starmer rejected the idea of reparations payments which yielded criticism.
