Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade

Today, the House commemorates the 200th anniversary of its legislation to abolish the appalling and unacceptable slave trade. This indeed is an historic moment for the United Kingdom, which led the world in legislating against the vile trade in the slavery of human beings. I welcome the participation of the right hon. Members for Richmond, Yorks (Mr. Hague) and for Gordon (Malcolm Bruce) in this debate, and I thank them for their support for this year’s commemoration. Today is also an opportunity for me to thank publicly the members of the bicentenary advisory group, as well as my ministerial colleagues, the Leader in the other place, Baroness Amos, the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Tottenham (Mr. Lammy), the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Gedling (Mr. Coaker) and the Minister for Women and Equality, the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Meg Munn). I am grateful for the hard work and imagination that they and their staff have brought to this important year of events. I also want to express my appreciation for the work of many stakeholders and local authorities around the country who are participating in the commemorations, especially in Liverpool, Bristol, London and Hull, the home of William Wilberforce MP. Events for this year are to be found in the commemorative booklet to be launched on Thursday, which will be made available to Members of both Houses. The events can be found in more detail on the BBC website, along with a superb set of programme discussions of the highest quality, which I am sure Members will have noticed have already begun. On behalf of the House, I congratulate the BBC on its efforts, especially Chantal Badjie, the project director of the BBC’s season on the abolition of the slave trade. The House will be aware of the launch of this year’s commemoration by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, followed by a wider series of events over this weekend. There will be a national memorial service at Westminster Abbey next Tuesday, and a parliamentary exhibition will open in Westminster Hall from 23 May to September. There will be a young persons’ debate here in Parliament in September, at which young people from Africa and the Caribbean will join youngsters from Britain. Two replica slave ships are making voyages to commemorate the north Atlantic slave trade this year. The Zong, the ship from the film ““Amazing Grace””, will arrive in the UK next Thursday. The Amistad will sail from America on 21 June, arriving in the UK in time for 23 August, the annual UNESCO day against slavery, as part of the commemoration by museums and local authorities. It will call at Bristol, London and Liverpool, and then sail to Africa and the Caribbean. We are also encouraging a debate about how we can commemorate the anniversary as a national event in the future. Should we have a national day of commemoration every year, and if so, when? The House may be aware that the European Commission supports 11 June as the European day against human trafficking. That day could be a candidate for an annual commemorative event, but I leave that for discussion. I am sure that the whole House will join me in paying tribute to William Wilberforce’s 20 year campaign to secure the first piece of legislation to make slavery illegal. To put that in perspective, Parliament, prior to that legislation, had already passed over 100 laws accommodating the slave trade. Those laws allowed slaves to be treated by the courts as property, not as people. Many died and, yes, some were murdered, in the most criminal circumstances, with no redress.