Peter Rhodes on reparations, talent and a cosmic plan to keep Mars tidy
Six years ago, as a mere Labour backbencher, David Lammy thundered: “As Caribbean people, enslaved, colonised and invited to Britain . . . we remember our history. We don't just want an apology, we want reparations and compensation.”
Today, Lammy is Foreign Secretary and the campaign for compensation for Britain's role in the slave trade is gathering pace, with some estimates running into trillions of pounds. Never has the gap between being in Opposition or Government been so clear, so vast. Now he has his hands on the levers of power, how many billions of pounds of UK taxpayers' money is Mr Lammy proposing to distribute to the descendants of slaves? I think we should be told. After all, we don't want another nasty shock like the filching of the winter-fuel payment, do we?
Some scientists are urging Elon Musk to scale back his plans to send humans to Mars to avoid “contaminating” the Red Planet. Good luck with that.
