Time has come for reparations conversation, say Commonwealth leaders

Before the statement was released, the leaders’ conclave – where commonwealth prime ministers and presidents meet without advisers – went on for about six hours.

The prime minister said it was not the conversation about reparations that had caused it to run on for so long.

One Downing Street source told the BBC: “We’ve been clear on our position and it’s not changing.”

And they have and it hasn’t – in fact the direct nature of their remarks about reparations on the way to the summit irritated some of those countries campaigning on it.

Half of the art of diplomacy is to keep things you want to talk about being talked about – keeping the conversation going, even if the prospect of imminent change is unlikely.

For those who think the time has come for countries like the UK to face up to their pasts, the communique allows them to say the conversation continues.

For the UK and others, they can say their position isn’t changing and also point to a range of other topics – trade, climate change and security for instance – that, they argue, the Commonwealth offers a vital forum for.

However, the prime minister did appear to leave the door open for further discussions about some form of reparatory justice, saying the “next opportunity to look at this” would be at the UK-Caribbean forum in 2025.