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Proposition arguments
"An apology is a formal recognition of the part that Britain played in the horrors of the slave trade."
When slavery is still so prevalent in Britain and around the world (e.g. Uganda, Bangladesh) it is the strongest signal that the government condemns contemporary slavery. If they apologise for their part in the slave trade 200 years ago they raise the profile of slavery as an issue in the public agenda.
It is hypocritical of the government to take an ethical position in condemning contemporary slavery without apologising the key role they used to play in the slave trade.
This is not an issue that occurred between our forefathers. Slavery put people in an oppressed position economically and in the attitudes of British people, which has affected generation after generation. The afro-Caribbean community are still one of the most economically disadvantage communities in Britain, and racism is still a real issue that people face daily in Britain. An apology would go someway towards redressing this position of oppressing a group that they put black Africans in.
The fact that other countries were involved, or black leaders and traders in Africa is no reason for Britain not to apologise. Britain should apologise for the role that they played, both practically in terms of slave ships, and also in demand for slaves and goods.
An apology is not meaningless, for people who have lost dignity publicly for generations it is a way for the government as the oppressor to humble themselves and affirm those who were oppressed. Apologies cannot change the past but they can help people to come to terms with the past and move on in the future. Tony Blair has already apologised for the Irish potato famine, so why not slavery?
An apology would cost nothing to the government, but mean so much to those given to. The government has come so close to apologising, that it makes it clear that this is not just an omission but in fact a conscious choice not to apologise. Withholding an apology is like rubbing salt into an open wound.
Liverpool City Council has apologised for its role in the Slave Trade and that has not led to the flood of lawsuits for reparations that the opposition suggest.
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