Barbados Prime Minister Dismisses UK Minister's Repayment Demand

WHO:

ABC News - Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley described a suggestion by U.K. lawmaker Suella Braverman as “asinine.”

AP News - Suella Braverman is a former British Home Secretary and a member of the anti-immigration Reform UK party.

AP News - U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk stated an estimated 25 million to 30 million Africans were uprooted for the purpose of slavery.

WHAT:

ABC News - Mottley stated that the Caribbean does not owe Britain for slavery, colonial extraction, or laws that treated African people as chattel.

AP News - Mottley led a subcommittee of Caribbean leaders that launched a new slavery reparations manifesto during a reparations conference in Ghana.

AP News - Jamaica plans to lodge a formal petition for reparations later this year.

WHERE:

ABC News - The comments were made in response to a post on X, and the Caribbean leaders met in St. Lucia.

AP News - The reparations conference took place in Ghana.

WHEN:

ABC News - Suella Braverman wrote her post on X on July 3.

ABC News - Barbados cut ties with Queen Elizabeth II in November 2021.

AP News - Mottley clinched a third consecutive term in February.

WHY:

ABC News - Mottley expressed disbelief at the suggestion that descendants of the enslaved should repay for the machinery that oppressed them.

AP News - Mottley suggested that some British parliamentarians want to distract from domestic politics in the United Kingdom.

HOW:

ABC News - Mottley communicated her views through a post on X.

(UPDATED July 10, 2026 17:35 UTC)

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has called a suggestion from U.K. lawmaker Suella Braverman “asinine,” responding to her claim that descendants of the enslaved should repay for the machinery that oppressed them. Mottley, who recently led a subcommittee of Caribbean leaders in launching a new slavery reparations manifesto during a conference in Ghana, emphasized that the Caribbean does not owe Britain for slavery or colonial extraction. Jamaica is also set to lodge a formal petition for reparations later this year, as Mottley pointed out that some British parliamentarians may be trying to distract from domestic issues in the U.K.