UK: Blair expresses Britain's "deep sorrow and regret" for its role in the slave trade

Record ID: 573458

  • Title: UK: Blair expresses Britain's "deep sorrow and regret" for its role in the slave trade
  • Date: 26th March 2007
  • Summary: WILBERFORCE MONUMENT WITH POSTER READING "WILBERFORCE 2007 HULL -- PRIDE, FREEDOM, BELIEF, CHANGE" COBBLED LANE IN HULL OLD TOWN
  • Embargoed: 10th April 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: History,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9CXJSAS8PLFYWJELDIX1OCPRR
  • Story Text: British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed Britain's "deep sorrow and regret" on Sunday (March 25) for the country's role in the slave trade as events took place to mark the anniversary of its abolition in the British Empire.
    In a recorded message for celebrations in Ghana -- a source of many of the slaves -- marking the bicentenary of the abolition, Blair said it was right that the occasion was marked across British cities which had played a role in slavery.
    "It is an opportunity for the United Kingdom to express our deep sorrow and regret for our nation's role in the slave trade and for the unbearable suffering, individually and collectively, it caused," Blair said.
    Earlier this month Blair said he was "sorry" for Britain's role but Archbishop of York John Sentamu has led calls for the Prime Minister to apologise fully on the country's behalf. On Saturday (March 24) Sentamu joined about 3,600 others in marches through central London to mark the bicentenary.
    When Britain abolished the trade it was the first major slave-trafficking nation to do so.
    A campaign by British politician and philanthropist William Wilberforce persuaded first the church and then the public and finally parliament that the lucrative trade was abhorrent and should be banned.
    Between 10 million and 28 million Africans were shipped in appalling conditions to the Americas and sold into slavery between 1450 and the early 19th century.
    Hundreds of people gathered in Manchester to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the end of the slave trade. In 1788 more than 10,000 Mancunians - one in five - signed a petition against slavery. A second petition in 1792 achieved 20,000 signatures.
    A high-profile church ceremony marking 200 years since the abolition of the slave trade in Bristol was greeted by angry protest from members of a black African campaign group.
    The Duchess of Gloucester was in attendance at Bristol Cathedral as church, community and civic leaders led sermons following a procession through the city centre led by African musicians.
    But as hundreds took their seats inside the church, about 30 members of Operation Truth 2007 gathered outside, carrying placards and chanting "not in our name." Protesters told reporters the ceremony was inappropriate because the overturning of slavery in 1807 had not achieved anything significant for former slaves.
    Bristol was one of Britain's busiest slave ports, with more than 2,000 ships making the triangular route from the city to the west coast of Africa and onto the Caribbean during the 1700s.
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