Cabinet minister Kemi Badenoch on Wednesday, May 1, insisted that colonialism and the sl@ve trade played a “minor role” in Britain’s economic development.
The Nigerian born Business Secretary and Equalities Minister said that UK’s economic success is instead the result of ‘British ingenuity and industry’ as she welcomed a new book by a rightwing think tank.
Despite the British Empire once being geographically the largest the world has ever seen, political economist Kristian Niemietz claimed Britain’s growth was not financed by the sl@ve trade or its imperial possessions.
Writing for the Institute of Economic Affairs, Dr Niemietz has argued that colonialism made only a ‘minor contribution’ to Britain’s economic development, ‘and quite possibly none at all’, with the benefits outweighed by the military and administrative cost of running an empire.
He added that the trans-Atlantic sl@ve trade was no more important to the British economy than sheep-farming or brewing, and most trade was with North America and Western Europe rather than the colonies, even if some individuals did become ‘very rich’ from ‘overseas engagement’.
Writing in support of the work, Mrs Badenoch said the book was ‘a welcome counterweight to simplistic narratives that exaggerate the significance of empire and sl@very to Britain’s economic development….(continue reading from next slide.)
