I was taught that people in the past did what they believed was right, but which is no longer what we believe and do. I was taught that life is shades of grey, not black and white. That the history of every country has both dark and bright spots.

I am also aware that the current British establishment, having mostly been born in thr 20th Century, could have no responsibility for, or even connection with, a trade which ceased to exist before there were born. Or are we to demand apologies and reparations from the Italian government for all the Britons enslaved by the Roman Empire? That isn't the same thing, you will say, but it bloody well is, by your logic!

As to dark history, my ancestors were Yorkshire coal-miners. So while the ancestors of todays African Americans were working in fields, in the fresh air and sunlight, mine were working underground, seldom saw sunlight and breathed air thick with smoke and coal dust. Slaves got fed, clothed and housed at their master's expense, adequately if not well, because they had to be strong enough to work. Miners got paid a pittance , then had to pay it to their employer because he owned the houses they rented and the shops they bought from - because he was determined to get the money he paid in wages back! They prostituted their wives and daughters to pay for rent and food, smothered the babies they couldn't feed, and died in their thirties, coughing their lungs up in black, bloody chunks! All to support the glorious British Empire!

Never, ever, fall for the con that the only, or worst, victims of the Empire were people of colour! If anyone is owed compensation for what went on then, it's the British working class, and if there's queue, we're at the front!