As has become customary for the current British Parliament, the debate marking the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade within the British Empire was a lacklustre, mediocre affair. Lacking was anything of the passion and intensity that characterised the movement against slavery on both sides of the Atlantic.

Whereas in early 19th century politics was about profound change, world-historic events such as the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, the revolutionary wars in Europe and so much more, today, for most MPs, it has all the profundity of whatever instructions are passed to them by pager.

One theme I hope to explore at this event is the interaction between the uprisings in the Caribbean and the burgeoning radical movement in Britain. That symbiosis lives on today. In dealing with the twin legacies of slavery – racism, and imperialist exploitation and impoverishment – we need the radicalism and the passion of the Toussaint L’Ouvertures, the Sam Sharpes and the English proletarians who feel at Peterloo as much as our forebears needed it then.

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