PRESS RELEASE - Campaigners Gather in London for Third Annual UK Reparations Conference
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 16.10.2025
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Afrikan Reparations is hosting its third annual UK Reparations Conference at Friends House, Euston on Saturday 18 October.
This year’s conference will bring together grassroots reparations campaigners from across the UK to discuss reparations for the enslavement, colonisation and continued exploitation of peoples of African descent across the world.
Entitled ‘Delivering Justice Through Repair’, the conference focus on the many ways activists are pursuing reparative justice: from the restitution of cultural artefacts to restructuring global governance, legal avenues for reparations, and campaigns for climate justice.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP (Clapham & Brixton Hill), Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Afrikan Reparations said:
“So many of the problems we face today have their roots in the enslavement and colonisation of Africa; from racism to economic inequality and the unequal impact of climate change. Like other European states, our country has a moral duty to stare this history in the face and address its role in these historic injustices.
“This year’s conference is a chance to take stock of the different ways that grassroots activists are working in the UK and beyond to secure justice. Reparations is about so much more than just financial compensation. The range of speakers and panels making up this year’s conference reflect the different avenues for justice that grassroots activists are already taking.”
Jeremy Corbyn MP (Islington North) said:
“I am pleased to be speaking at this year’s UK Reparations Conference. Reparations are about truth and they are about justice. That means recognising this nation's role in crimes against humanity, no matter how uncomfortable that process of reflection may be.”
Jacqueline McKenzie, Partner at Leigh Day said:
“The claim for Reparations for the Transatlantic process of enslaving Africans must be addressed with urgency; be it through legal or negotiated routes.”
Debby Flack, Quakers in Britain said:
“Love and justice call us to tell the truth about historic injustices that continue to shape our present. Quakers are on a reparation journey -it is humbling and momentous work.”
Daniel Noruwa, Research and Policy Lead at the Ubele Initiative, said:
“Reparations must be about more than just compensation. It should reimagine existing systems to build lasting community wealth, supporting Black ownership, enterprise, and local economic power to repair historical harm in a way that strengthens everyone.”
Eleanor Shearer, Senior Research Fellow at Common Wealth said:
“Only by understanding the origins of our present moment and the imprint empire left on the world can we understand how to dismantle these outdated systems and build a better, more just future.”
Marcus Ryder, co-author of ‘The Big Payback’ with Lenny Henry, said:
“Reparations are not about charity. They are about fairness, restitution, and the right to define a future unshackled from the legacies of exploitation.”
Harj Narulla, Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, said:
“Reparations for slavery are possible under both domestic and international law. I anticipate that we will see a number of cases filed in coming years, against governments and private actors.”
Kayza Rose, Black Lives Matter UK, said:
“My Jamaican ancestors were forced to labour on sugar plantations that built Britain’s wealth. I honour them by calling for reparations to pour into our communities with care, creating layered, shifting paths toward justice, healing and true repair.”
Nadine White, journalist and filmmaker, said:
“Reparations are about more than compensation - it’s about justice, repair and restoring the humanity denied to generations of African people and their descendants. It’s concerning that this truth still meets resistance in parts of the mainstream discourse.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
This year's Conference Agenda is now live on the APPG-AR website: https://www.appg-ar.org/uk-reparations-conference-2025-agenda
Several conference sessions will be available for streaming, including all events in the main conference hall.
Official conference partners include the Quakers, the African Foundation for Development (AFFORD), Stop the Maangamizi, Extinction Rebellion Internationalist Solidarity Network (XRISN), Christian Aid, Operation Black Vote, Common Wealth, Leigh Day, the Ubele Initiative and the Repair Campaign.
For more information, please contact bell.ribeiroaddy.mp@parliament.uk