Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade

I should like to share with the House two perspectives on slavery that relate to my own spheres of activity as a Member of Parliament. I start by paying tribute to my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister. I am absolutely delighted that he has encouraged the House to spend time discussing this important matter and supported it in doing so. Sitting for a Merseyside constituency, I feel that it is important not to let this occasion pass without the House stopping to consider the city of Liverpool’s connections with the European slave trade. Indeed, many of my right hon. and hon. Friends and other Members have already mentioned it. No city can claim to have been more inextricably linked with that abhorrent practice. At its height, Liverpool controlled 80 per cent. of the British slave trade and 40 per cent. of the European slave trade. Considering those figures, it is no exaggeration to say that Liverpool was one of the forces that drove the entire transatlantic slave trade. London, Bristol and Hull played an important role, but Liverpool was in a league of its own. That trade penetrated every aspect of city life and every level of society—16 of Liverpool’s mayors were slave traders. Liverpool built, owned, manned, insured and repaired the ships that took African people from their homes and families, transported them across the seas and sold them into a life of servitude. Liverpudlians and their countrymen enjoyed the tobacco, sugar, cotton and coffee that those ships brought with them on their return voyages. The merchants and businessmen grew wealthy through that shameful trade, fuelling the growth of the city and the region. Several Liverpudlians, including John Newton, went on to play a prominent role in the abolition of slavery, but it is important to remember that Liverpool continued to profit from the slave trade long after 1807. Once established, many of the trading posts in west Africa went on to serve Liverpool as she became the second city of the British empire. During the American civil war, cotton from the southern plantations was so important to Britain that ships were built in Liverpool for the Confederate navy so that they could run the Union blockade of the south. The slave trade is not merely a matter for Liverpool’s history; it has left its mark on the present city in so many ways. We cannot—and indeed should not—forget it, because there are so many visible reminders everywhere. Liverpool Lime Street railway station was built on the profits of slavery to facilitate the transport of cotton from the docks to the mills of Manchester. The design of the town hall incorporates a frieze with depictions of Liverpool’s trading connections, including motifs depicting African people—not shown as ambassadors of their respective states but as commodities available for sale in our city. Earle street, New Bird street, Dorans lane and numerous other streets are named after slave traders. Even Penny lane, made famous throughout the world by the Beatles, is said to be named after James Penny, who owned slave ships and vocally opposed abolition. What of the legacy? This year, Liverpool celebrates its 800th anniversary and prepares to became European capital of culture next year. We have many wonderful things about the city to celebrate: the iconic waterfront, the magnificent twin cathedrals, a proud shipping heritage, successful football teams, the Beatles, and the musicians and poets of the 1960s. However, we are what we are because of the slave trade. We have become a world-class city on the back of the strength and intellectual acumen of people from another continent, and we owe a great debt to the people of Africa. How does a nation repay that debt? Liverpool has come some way towards acknowledging the part that it played in the slave trade. In 1999, the city council passed a motion formally apologising for it. A museum and study centre dedicated to the subject will open in the city later this year. All our children need to know where they came from and must be encouraged to reach out and share what we have with those from whom we have taken so much. That brings me on to my second area of interest as chair of the all-party group on the west African Mano river region, which is principally concerned with the development and welfare of the five countries along the banks of the Mano river in west Africa: Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Senegal and Liberia. It was from that part of Africa that the slave traders took so many individuals from their families and communities, and it was that part of Africa to which freed slaves were later returned. However, just as Liverpool continued to profit from the slave trade long after it was abolished, so west Africa continued to remain impoverished and exploited. The country that I have had most involvement with is Sierra Leone, which I have visited on five occasions. Slaves freed by Britain initially returned to Africa through that country—many chose to settle there. From the appropriately named port of Freetown, the Royal Navy conducted its anti-slavery patrols; indeed, it continues to patrol the seas off Sierra Leone today. Unfortunately, life for the former slaves in Sierra Leone offered little comfort, and that prospect has remained largely unchanged for their descendents. There exists a direct relationship between prosperity and poverty. In such places, where so many still have so little, people are cheap enough to buy. They are bound by the shackles created by their own poverty. It was only when I visited Sierra Leone that I began to understand for myself that slavery was still very much alive 200 years after it was supposedly banned. Sierra Leone is recovering from a wretched war; unemployment is rife, at 90 per cent; and there are thousands of abandoned children roaming the streets. The reality in impoverished countries is that the only commodity that is readily available is a body, and bodies are cheap. Unfortunately, child prostitution is rife. It is immensely distressing to visit that beautiful country and look beyond the facade of sewage-strewn streets to see beautiful faces who daily pay the price of the rape of their nation that took place centuries ago. If anyone wishes to deny the historical relevance of the transatlantic slave trade or seeks to downplay the continuing existence of slavery today, I tell them to go to Freetown. Children there have asked me to take them home and they would be sent here willingly by many parents who are bereft of the opportunity to feed and clothe their own offspring. Liverpool city council is managing hundreds of children who are sent to this country unaccompanied to seek asylum. As a parent, I can understand why mothers in Sierra Leone and other desperately poor countries would want to send their children here. Here, children can go to school, and can expect to eat each day and to receive health care. In Sierra Leone, a quarter of children die before they reach the age of five. Our challenge as a Government and a nation is to return the wealth gained on the back of the African continent to the descendents of those African nations, not just through our money, but through our skills and intellectual property. Sending money is easy, but we must all invest our time as well. We must sign a commitment pact to give something back. The British Government are doing truly marvellous work in Sierra Leone, which is recovering from the violence and devastation of war and instability. They responded to President Kabbah in 2002 when he called for assistance to bring an end to the civil war that had seen tens of thousands of Sierra Leoneans mutilated, murdered and raped. Our Government have said that we will retain a presence in the country until 2015. We need to stay to send a clear signal to the despicable rebel leaders, who chose to exploit their own people for their own ends, that the country is protected. The House might already be aware of the work of the British Council, which facilitates projects to share expertise and skills between different countries. Under its global skills partnership, 900 schools in the UK have been linked with counterparts in 80 different countries. This year, one of its themes is slavery. Some school twinning programmes are relatively straightforward. However, twinning in some countries is incredibly difficult, as communications, visits and security all militate against a successful twinning. Despite that, the British Council is working with communities across the UK to form strong links between our communities and those challenged countries in Africa. I said earlier that giving money was a comparatively easy solution. The Government and the people of this nation want to do a lot more. I am sure that many of us who watched ““Comic Relief”” last week were not at all surprised to see that more than £40 million was raised in one evening. Sixty per cent. of that fund will be spent on supporting projects throughout Africa that are designed to protect and educate children and their mothers. Thousands of people in this country have decided to make a much bigger commitment, however, and to respond personally to the expressed needs of different African countries. That desire extends to people in my own constituency. It has been pointed out today that the slave trade was brought to an end not only by politicians but through the will of the people. The delivery of Africa will be brought about by its own people raising their voices, and we have a duty—not only as politicians but as individuals—to support them. In 2002, I travelled to Sierra Leone as part of a Commonwealth parliamentary delegation, under the chairmanship of Wyn Griffiths, the former MP for Bridgend. I had never been to Sierra Leone before, and it was a profoundly distressing experience. I saw the unimaginable deprivation common to the most challenged countries on the planet. The desperately poor people, the thousands of raped women and the 30,000 child soldiers were among the legacies of 15 years of civil war. I doubt that I could have survived such calamities had I not asked the head teacher of a local school how he managed. He replied, ““Life happens. Life goes on.”” And it does. During my stay in Sierra Leone—with the support of the British Army, and particularly Lieutenant Colonel Steve Cook—I visited Waterloo, a great little town three miles outside Freetown. From that visit, the Waterloo partnership was born. The partnership brings together the people of Waterloo in Sierra Leone and Waterloo in Liverpool. The two communities have made a 20-year commitment to each other and, unlike aid agencies or Governments, we will remain together come what may. None of us is paid, and we choose to work together in the one hope that together we will grow closer and stronger because, irrespective of where we are and who we are, people throughout the world have the same aspirations. We want the same things: a good education for our children; sufficient food to eat; and the means to support ourselves. That does not include selling our bodies. So far, the Waterloo partnership has raised £150,000. Crucially, we have sat down together to talk about the projects that we can achieve together, and about how we can tackle the problems that we face so that we do not return to the past. In partnership, there must be equal giving and taking. We can learn so much from our brothers and sisters in Sierra Leone about tolerance, forgiveness and living in religious harmony, and about teaching and farming practices. The Waterloo partnership is facilitating a cultural and educational exchange. So far, 11 teachers from Waterloo have travelled to Sierra Leone on the first of many school exchange visits. That will be the basis of our schools twinning programme. We want to twin all our schools, and we want all our children to learn about each other. We want them to understand their common roots. In addition, we have involved the business community in helping us to deliver some of the bigger aspirations of our brothers and sisters in Waterloo, Sierra Leone. Those include equipping all the schools there. That is beyond the means of the Sierra Leone Government—only a third of the children in Sierra Leone go to school at the moment—but it is not beyond the means of Colin Crooks and his great team at Green-Works. Colin rang me after hearing a BBC World Service broadcast covering one of the Waterloo partnership visits. He is in the fortunate position of receiving thousands of chairs and desks from some of the leading companies in the UK that prefer to recycle them rather than send them to landfill. He came with me to Sierra Leone last month, and surveyed every school in Waterloo. He has now put together a business plan to produce bespoke furniture for the schools there. Crucially, that project will generate vitally needed employment. I must take this opportunity to thank the Deputy Prime Minister for his support; he is a wonderful socialist. He came out to Sierra Leone last month and visited Waterloo. He was received by thousands of delighted residents, children and representatives of different community groups, including the Waterloo Handicapped Association. That marvellous group of men, most of whom are wheelchair-bound, subsequently wrote to John to thank him for his time and for sharing with them his stories about his disabled father. In their letter, they also expressed their profound hope that he could help them to find work. Generating employment lies at the heart of the work of the Waterloo partnership, because without work, people become vulnerable to being traded, just for their bodies. In addition, the Waterloo partnership is seeking to build the largest library in west Africa. This was a good idea put forward not by the Waterloo partnership in Liverpool but by the good people in Sierra Leone. I was interested in helping them with a capital project of their choosing. However, they did not choose a project involving sewerage or water; they chose a library, because a generation had missed its education. Many of us regard people in Africa as belittled and cowed by their experience, but they are actually just like us. They have huge aspirations and desires, and those will be accomplished by their ambition for a library. When asked for such a comparatively small thing, who would not rise to the challenge? I am proud to represent a community of people who really want to deliver the largest library in west Africa. We want to deliver a facility that we would be proud of in this country, because our brothers and sisters over there deserve no less. Given that, 200 years ago, Merseyside helped to rob Africa of some of its best bodies and minds, it is fitting that, 200 years later, its descendants are doing something to help that same part of the world and, perhaps, to absolve the sins of our ancestors. They can never be absolved completely, however; they were mighty sins. But we do not do this merely to appease guilty consciences. I believe that reaching out is important if we are to create communities with integrity and cohesion at home. We are living in a globalised world in which issues such as slavery, prostitution and the trade in drugs, weapons and people are fundamentally linked with matters concerning economics, population, immigration, labour supply and the state of our society. I am proud to be a member of a party that, in government, has done more than any other to tackle the problems of international development. It has created a Department for International Development at Cabinet level, and it is working with our partners to improve access to medicines, to combat AIDS and to fight corruption. It is also taking a lead on the world stage by doubling aid and writing off debt. We cannot undo the past. We will never know what course Africa’s development might have taken had it not been for the transatlantic slave trade. The victims and the criminals of that trade will never see justice, but, given the problems faced by the countries of Africa—and our comparative prosperity—I am pleased that we now have the collective resolve to address the wrongs of the past by working together to build a better future.