Farage’s Reform UK calls for visa ban linked to slavery

The party’s home affairs spokesman says “enough is enough” after London admitted 3.8 million people from countries seeking compensation

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK would stop issuing visas to nationals from any country that demands slavery reparations from Britain, the party’s home affairs spokesman has announced, dismissing the compensation claims as “insulting.”

Speaking to The Telegraph, Zia Yusuf stated that a growing number of nations are seeking compensation for the UK’s historical role in the transatlantic slave trade, but are ignoring that Britain “made huge sacrifices to be the first major power to outlaw slavery and enforce this prohibition.” 

Yusuf expressed outrage that over the past two decades, successive Conservative and Labour governments had issued 3.8 million visas to people from countries demanding reparations and also sent those nations £6.6 billion ($8.7 billion) in foreign aid.

Under Reform’s proposed ‘Reparations Lock’, the UK would halt the issuance of all new visas, including work, study, family, and visitor visas, to nationals of any country that formally demands reparations. The party has already pledged to scrap foreign aid for such nations.

“The United Kingdom is not an ATM for ethnic grievances of the past, and we will no longer tolerate being ridiculed on the world stage,” Yusuf said, stressing that “enough is enough.”

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His comments come after the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution last month declaring the transatlantic slave trade “the gravest crime against humanity.” The measure, proposed by Ghana, urged countries to consider apologizing and contributing to a reparations fund. It passed with 123 votes in favor, including from Russia and China. The US, Israel, and Argentina voted against the measure while the UK was among 52 countries that abstained.

At least 17 countries have demanded reparations from Britain, including the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Belize. 

A 2023 report by a former International Court of Justice judge concluded that the UK alone owes more than $24 trillion in reparations to 14 Caribbean countries – a sum nearly seven times the size of the British economy. Of that sum, nearly $9.6tn is due to Jamaica, the study claimed.

The UK government had previously ruled out reparations, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves stating the country “cannot afford” the sums demanded. The Conservative opposition has also described reparations as a “scam.”