Should Britain Pay Reparations For Its Role In The Transatlantic Slave Trade? No & Here's Why

Lord Nigel Biggar is Emeritus Regius Professor of Moral Theology at the University of Oxford and Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Pusey House, Oxford. He holds a B.A. in Modern History from Oxford and a PhD in Christian Theology and Ethics from the University of Chicago. In 2021, he was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for 'services to higher education'.

Nigel is the author of several acclaimed works, including Reparations: Slavery and the Tyranny of Guilt, Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning, What’s Wrong with Rights?, In Defence of War, and Between Kin and Cosmos: An Ethic of the Nation. His writing has appeared in publications such as The Financial Times, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Spectator, The Critic, Standpoint, The Glasgow Herald, The Irish Times, UnHerd, and Quillette.

His most recent books are Reparations: Slavery and the Tyranny Of Imaginary Guilt; Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning (2023), What’s Wrong with Rights? (2020), In Defence of War (2013), and Between Kin and Cosmopolis: An Ethic of the Nation (2014). In the press he has written articles for the Financial Times, the (London) Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Spectator, the (Glasgow} Herald, the Irish Times, Standpoint, The Critic, The Article, Unherd and Quillette.

In this episode, Nigel and I think out loud about rethinking the problem of historical injustices and why Britain does not owe reparations to descendants of the transatlantic slave trade, how much of a contribution slavery made to Britain's industrial prosperity, the scale of slave trade across the world at various times in history, the responsibility of Africans in the slave trade, the history of the enslavement of British and European slaves, whether Britain's recent immigration history will permanently impact its justice system and political culture, the topic of illegal immigration and deportations and much, much more.

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Thinking Class is a free-speech YouTube show and podcast that reclaims the space to think out loud. Join John Gillam (@thinkingclasses) and his guests to learn how to pay attention to what matters.