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Chancellor pledges extra £500m for social homes in budget as part of the Treasury’s plans £5bn total investment in housing…

Campaigners call for steeper cuts to UK greenhouse gas emissions Climate Change Committee advised Ed Miliband to cut level by…

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Rachel Reeves to slash discount for ‘right to buy’ council homes in Budget Sign up for the View from Westminster…

Tommy Robinson latest: Right-wing activist charged with terror offence ahead of extremist demo at weekend Tommy Robinson outside Folkestone Police station…

Quick View – Contents Should Britain pay reparations? As the Commonwealth summit got underway on Friday, there have been renewed calls…

Such demands stand on shaky moral ground. The contention that slavery gave rise to British wealth appears unfounded, with generations of motivated activists attempting to find some way in which the Industrial Revolution and Britain’s subsequent economic growth derived from the trade, and in each case appearing to fall short… the argument that those living today have a moral responsibility to make amends for the sins of their forefathers can be rejected out of hand. Britain has not sought compensation from Denmark for the depredations of the Vikings, or from North Africa for the acts of the Barbary corsairs.

The government’s current position puts it out of step with a number of UK institutions, such as the Church of England, the University of Glasgow and Lloyds Bank – as well as the Guardian – who, in recent years, have not only issued formal apologies but announced proposals for reparatory justice. The insistence on focusing on “current future-facing challenges” such as climate resilience and debt restructuring went down like a lead balloon with legal experts, campaigners and the Caribbean Community (Caricom). Many felt it showed a deep ignorance of what the campaign for reparative justice actually is.

The Prime Minister insisted slavery reparations would not be on the agenda at the summit in Samoa this week. Canny politicians from elsewhere in the Commonwealth – astute at spotting the weakest link – appear to have outsmarted him to secure a debate on the topic…Any wobble by Sir Keir should concern us all and begs the question, yet again, whether he is really up to the job. On the world stage – beyond the cosy confines of Labour Party internal politicking – he seems to struggle with the twilight arts of diplomacy, distraction and negotiation.

UK Daily Trending stories Trending – Chancellor Rachel Reeves to ‘fiddle’ the debt Rachel Reeves has received several warnings via…