Sir Lenny Henry has sparked controversy by calling for every black British person to receive slavery reparations paid for by the taxpayer.
The comedian uses a new book he has co-written called The Big Payback to push for the UK to shell out £18trillion in compensation – targeting not just Caribbean nations, but British citizens too, reports GB News.
Writing in the book, Sir Lenny stated that “all black British people… need reparations for slavery”, adding: “We personally deserve money for the effects of slavery.” The news comes after the UK’s ethnic minorities deliver devastating verdict on woke views of Britain.
Sir Lenny teamed up with TV executive and diversity charity boss Marcus Ryder to write the book, which lays out their argument and historical rationale for the cash handouts.
Majority of UK black population has African roots
The 2.4 million black people living in Britain mostly trace their heritage directly to Africa, not to slaves who lived in the Caribbean.
The book sidesteps this distinction, instead arguing that modern racism – which it links to the slave trade – affects all black people.
Based on this reasoning, the authors declare that compensation should go to all black people.
Sir Lenny insists that “the reason we have racism today and also… why black British people are grossly over-represented in the prison population”, plus other inequalities like unemployment being higher among black people, are “all because of the transatlantic slave trade”.
October release date set for controversial tome
Faber plans to release the book on October 9, with the authors arguing the UK has a duty to pay trillions in reparations – funds they say can and should be deployed for “ridding the world of racism”.
The publication insists reparations need to “dismantle the foundations” of Western societies which were erected on slavery and racism, before building “new foundations”.
Achieving this depends on the “redistribution” of power, and “changing how power is shared within countries and between countries”.
Consultancy report used to justify massive sum
The authors reference the Brattle Report, a “report on reparations for Transatlantic chattel slavery in the Americas and the Caribbean” by consultancy firm the Brattle Group.
Consultants arrived at a staggering $100trillion (nearly £74.5trillion) by assigning monetary values to the “loss of liberty” and “mental anguish” plus wages slaves never received.
Labour MP and provocative professor back project
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Afrikan Reparations, has written material that appears in the book.
Kehinde Andrews, Britain’s first “black studies” professor who has claimed Winston Churchill was the “perfect embodiment of white supremacy”, that “the British Empire was far worse than the Nazis”, and that St George’s Cross is “racist”, also contributes to the publication.
Publication emerges amid growing pressure campaign
The book hits shelves as a broader movement gathers pace to extract reparations payments from European countries.
September saw Africa’s EU equivalent jump on board a campaign pressuring British taxpayers to pay reparations for the country’s so-called “historic crimes”.
The African Union demanded “meaningful reparations” from “former colonial powers” to address the exploitation of its people and land during the 1800s.
Despite mounting pressure, British Prime Ministers have repeatedly refused demands for reparations, with Sir Keir Starmer maintaining this stance.