The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has backed proposals that have been made for a British slavery museum to be built in London as a way of combating modern-day racism and as a means of paying slavery reparations. The Fabian Society has put forward the proposal as part of mayor Khan’s second term, should he win re-election in 2020. 

Mr Khan stated that the idea was “welcome and timely” as well as that “It’s right and fair that all Londoners see themselves and their history reflected in our city’s museums and cultural institutions. Learning more about the uncomfortable nature of our city and our nation’s role in the transatlantic slave trade can serve to deepen our understanding of the past and strengthen our commitment to fight racism and hatred in all its forms.” Mayor Khan has been criticised by many including the President of the United States when he stated “I think he has done a bad job on crime” as mayor and many may suggest that getting tough on this would prove a more popular policy. 

Many others such as Omar Khan who is the director of the Runnymede Trust has stated “Until and unless Britain comes to terms with this history it will be impossible to understand much less eradicate the views that continue to justify racial inequalities today. It is unacceptable that the capital city of a nation that built a global empire and its wealth in large part as a result of its role in the slave trade has no significant museum or monument marking the role that London and Britain played in these historic atrocities.” Many Londoners will also be more interested in the scandalously overpriced homes in London as a result of over demand than the idea for a new museum. 

Whilst the British economy became heavily dependent on Caribbean sugar that was gained as part of the slave trade in the British colonies, an International slavery museum is already in situe in Liverpool, a further town that was directly involved in the slave trade. Such calls are becoming a regular occurrence on the left of British politics alongside a drive to cover the British empire in a wholly negative way. 

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Oliver Down

Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!

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