Tony Blair's recent expression of "deep sorrow" over the fact "that the slave trade ever happened", published by the New Nation at the end of November, has already provoked   widespread protests amongst many in the African and Caribbean communities as well as more widely. Even the mainstream press felt compelled to point out that Blair's sentimental words of "deep sorrow" were more an expression of pragmatism than anything. As usual, the Prime Minister is minded to present himself as the great humanitarian, not only in Britain but on the world stage, finding this the best means to commit even more crimes against humanity in the context of making Britain "Great" again. WDIE condemns these words of Tony Blair for their refusal to settle scores with and take responsibility for these most heinous of crimes against humanity and thereby insulting the memory of the millions of victims of the slave trade and leaving in place the conditions for the present-day enslavement and deaths of millions of victims of imperialist plunder, exploitation, war and aggression.

            The Prime Minister's statement is being made in advance of the commemorative events which are planned for March 2007, the bicentennial of the abolition by Parliament of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, a commemoration in which the government is playing a leading role [see article in WDIE]. The 1807 Act made it illegal for British ships and citizens to be involved in the trafficking of human beings, millions of whom had been kidnapped from the shores of Africa during the previous three centuries. In the 18th century Britain was the world's leading trafficker in human flesh. It is estimated that about half of all Africans who were kidnapped and taken across the Atlantic were transported in British ships, but Blair is not even able to honestly present the extent, nor enormity of this crime.

            In his statement Blair suggests that Britain was the first country to abolish this trafficking in human flesh, although this was not the case. Denmark was the first by some four years.  He obviously wishes to claim some glory for the "mother of all parliaments". But the Act of 1807 was only passed because the representatives of the rich who voted for it calculated that its was to Britain's economic and strategic advantage to do so, and at the same time that it might divert attention from the politically unpopular, reactionary and lengthy war which was being fought against France and its allies at the time. No doubt Blair and his government are hoping to create a similar diversion, from the war crimes committed in Iraq, Afghanistan, in Africa itself and elsewhere, while at the same time wishing to present themselves as the nature successors to those they claim were the great humanitarians of the 19th century.

            It is no doubt with this in mind that Blair suggested that the bicentenary not only allows the expression of "deep sorrow" but also the chance to "rejoice at the different and better times we live in today". For someone who is allegedly preoccupied with the fact that Africa is a "scar on the conscience of humanity", it is difficult to understand how the Prime Minister can believe there is much occasion for rejoicing for the majority of Africans who live on less than $1 a day. It is clear that he is unable to make any causal link between the exploitation of the African continent by Britain and others in the past and its impoverishment today. He is also wholly silent on the rape and plunder of that continent which occurred after 1807, in which Britain also played and continues to play a leading role. It is noteworthy that for Africa there is no mention by Blair of the necessary reparation for all the crimes that British governments have carried out. On the contrary he proudly champions the doubling of enslaving "aid" privatisation and other means to continue Britain's exploitation of the continent and interference in its affairs.

            The exploitation of the African continent and its peoples, as well as the exploitation of the people of Britain and other parts of the world has created the great wealth which the country has at its disposal. Yet even Blair is forced to admit that inequality is still a feature of modern life, not only in terms of the racism that is the legacy of colonial oppression but also for the working people of Britain a whole, as a consequence of the fact that wealth is still in the hands of the few. Far from being able to rejoice at the "different and better times we live in today", it is a fact that life in Britain is still dominated by a political and economic system that is controlled by and benefits the rich, just as it did in 1807. Not only that, but the Blair government is intent on carrying forward Britain's so-called "civilising mission", the essence of which is of the superiority of a mythical "British way of life" and regards other civilisations, particularly of Africa as those of lesser human beings. Indeed, this is an outlook that these are not civilisations at all, that their history only began with colonialism, that they have no history and hence seeks to erase their humanity, and lauds the "aid" and "humanity" of the big powers and the universality of Anglo-American values, institutions and thought material.

            It is not just an issue of condemning Tony Blair for his sanctimonious and hypocritical statement on the trafficking of human flesh but of condemning all the crimes of the British governments of the past and of the present. The people themselves must draw the appropriate lessons from history and organise themselves to become the decision makers so that they may settle scores with the old conscience and ensure that reparation is made for slavery, colonialism and all crimes against humanity.