JAMAICA is reportedly considering a bid to seek compensation from wealthy Tory MP Richard Drax over his family’s pivotal role in slavery. 

The Caribbean island’s National Council on Reparations is said to be examining the potential legal case, following reports that Barbados is also considering such action, according to the BBC.  

Mr Drax’s ancestors were pioneers of the sugar and slave trade in the Carribean and North America in the 17th century and the 617-acre Drax Hall plantation in Barbados is still owned by the family. 

The Tory MP has previously described his family’s role in the slave trade as “deeply, deeply regrettable,” while claiming that “no-one can be held responsible today for what happened many hundreds of years ago.” 

However, anti-racism campaigner Zita Holbourne argued that his family’s legacy continues to this day.

“He is living in wealth and privilege today while the descendants of those his family committed violent crimes [against continue] to live with the legacies of enslavement and colonialism, facing systemic racism, injustice and poverty,” she said. 

“Reparations is not only about finance but about healing and peace. How can we have healing and peace when he still owns estates in the Caribbean gained through brutality and  violence towards black people?

“He could give these estates back to the communities, rather than attempting to remove himself from blame and justify his ownership. Trauma passes through generations and his very presence and ownership impacts today.”

According to an estimate by Barbadan historian Hilary Beckles, 30,000 enslaved men, women and children died on Drax-owned plantations in the Caribbean over 200 years.