By Michael Lord
The Voice of Europe
Two
major British firms, Lloyd’s of London and Greene King, have pledged to pay
reparations to “representatives of black people” and other minorities for their
past involvement in the slave trade.
Representatives of Lloyd’s of London, an insurance
market, and Greene King, the country’s largest brewery, announced their
intention to pay reparations yesterday evening. The decisions were made after
researchers at the University College London discovered links between the
firm’s founders and the slave trade, according to a report by
The Guardian. The British Empire abolished the slave trade in 1833.
Simon Fraser, one
of Lloyd’s founding members, owned slaves on plantations in Dominica and
British Guiana. Benjamin Greene, one of Greene King’s founders, had slaves on
plantations in Montserrat and Saint Kitts.
A representative
for Greene King said that the firm will “make a substantial investment to
benefit the Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic community and support our race
diversity in the business,” and that “racism and discrimination have no place
at Greene King.”
For its part, Lloyd’s said that the firm shall “invest in positive programmes
to attract, retain, and develop black and minority ethnic talent” and will
offer “financial support to charities and organisations promoting opportunity
and inclusion for black and minority ethnic groups.” They said that they are
still working on identifying appropriate groups to which to donate.
Lloyd’s further
said that they will check their “organisational artefacts to ensure that they
are explicitly non-racist.”
Neither firm has
yet said exactly how much they will offer.
The
firms’ announcements come as the UK has seen an explosion of violence in recent
weeks following similar rioting in the United States that was triggered by the
death of George Floyd, a black man who died while being taken into police
custody. The UK has been rocked by conflict ever since, with thugs attacking
counter-demonstrators in London last weekend who were attempting to protect
British landmarks from Leftist extremists after police showed an unwillingness
to do so, as previously reported by
Voice of Europe.
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