Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade

The right hon. Gentleman will know from his research that one of the most important battles that William Wilberforce had to fight was with the bishops of the Church of England, not one of whom supported the abolition of the slave trade. Indeed, many of them retained slaves rights until 1833, when owning slaves was also made illegal. The Bishop of Exeter was remunerated to the sum of £13,000 for the 665 slaves that he had. I hope that the right hon. Gentleman will want to put on record that the Church of England has changed its mind, finally.