people were caribbean and these people were left to set up their own country, perhaps it would have a bigger economy than china today. perhaps they would be the most powerful and most wealthy nation in the world, and the only thing that stops them, the only thing that stops them, the only thing that kept them less rich than than they might have been was the dastardly british. >> well, it's nice, but unfortunately, you know, wakanda wasn't built in. liberia wasn't built in ethiopia. the sad reality is there's no evidence to suggest that there would be any of the development that we've seen in africa or indeed anywhere amongst, you know, some of those colonies later on elsewhere in the pacific and so forth. were it for not colonialism? the first thing to say, of course, is that the slave trade ended before actually the european nations began developing their colonies in africa . so that's the first in africa. so that's the first point to make. the second thing is, of course , liberia and is, of course, liberia and ethiopia i mentioned, because they were never colonised. so those are two states in africa that never experienced colonisation. liberia was actually set up by by slaves.

but let's compare, for example , but let's compare, for example, benin in west africa to the caribbean, right ? so the, the, caribbean, right? so the, the, the annual gdp per capita in benin is $1,400 a year. it's 17,000. in barbados, life expectancy in in in benin is 10 to 15 years shorter than it is in the caribbean. so by every measure, it's impossible for me to see in what way the lives of people today have been impoverished by slavery. if you are living in the caribbean, you know most of the caribbean nafions know most of the caribbean nations are middle income countries who rank higher on the human development index than brazil or mexico. and one of the reasons they're middle income countries is because of their british colonial inheritance. the english language and the common law have made them able to become global players in the world economy. they've got all of the infrastructure of parliament and the judiciary and the civil service and universities and the police structure , all of the things structure, all of the things that britain left behind. i'm not saying that britain had no

evil side to its role in the caribbean. horrendous atrocities were committed, but today, in the 21st century, it's very hard to see how that legacy is anything but a positive. >> okay, well, thank you very much indeed . rafe heydel—mankoo, much indeed. rafe heydel—mankoo, historian and broadcaster. always great to speak to you. it could happen. >> no, but it's a fascinating comparison, isn't it? shall we compare? i don't know, jamaica to a country that the british never colonised haiti. i mean , never colonised haiti. i mean, which is richer, which is richer? >> there's a huge push for this. a lot of people working behind the scenes on this type of thing, where it comes from academics to activists to politicians to government officials, it's all entirely fictitious. i mean, all pushing for this idea of western reparations, particularly the british. >> so some islands in the canbbean >> so some islands in the caribbean are going to get more money. if this were to be approved. and of course, the government doesn't want to approve it. more money than the entire chinese economy. i mean , entire chinese economy. i mean, the uk , uk, gdp. i can't the uk, uk, gdp. i can't emphasise this enough is less

than £3 trillion. that's the entire uk economy and they want reparations from us worth 19 trillion. >> how many people of caribbean heritage are living in the uk? it would be their taxes too that would have to pay for this extraordinary sum. i mean, it's just crazy . just crazy. anyway, just crazy. just crazy. anyway, let us know your thoughts gbnews.com/yoursay. can you see a time where we do actually end up spending billions, if not trillions on reparations? i mean, stranger things have happened anyway, lots more coming up on today's show, including a french wood, has been used on the hms victory. there we go. why? why ? there we go. why? why? >> tom. >> tom. >> emily, thank you very much. the top stories. the prime minister says he will do everything in his power to galvanise economic growth. speaking at the international investment summit today, sir keir starmer said the government will make sure every regulator in the country takes growth as seriously as businesses . the seriously as businesses. the government has unveiled investment deals worth billions of pounds in al, life sciences

and infrastructure. it comes following a row over criticism of p&o ferries that reportedly jeopardised a £1 billion investment by its owner, dp world. that comes as four us tech firms have today announced plans to invest £6.3 billion in data centre infrastructure in the uk , a move the technology the uk, a move the technology secretary calls a vote of confidence in the country . the confidence in the country. the uk has announced a fresh wave of sanctions against iranian military figures after the country's missile attack on israel, in which almost 200 ballistic missiles were fired towards israel around two weeks ago. that is, four teenage idf soldiers have been killed and more than 60 wounded in a drone strike on an army base in northern israel. it's the deadliest attack on an israeli base since israel stepped up attacks on hezbollah in lebanon last month. lebanese terror group hezbollah have claimed responsibility for the attack. this comes as the un peacekeeping mission says israeli tanks have been forcibly entered its base in southern

lebanon. the health ministry there says 51 people were killed by israeli strikes across the country yesterday. and a court has heard that the father of sarah sharif fled to pakistan after allegedly killing the ten year old and called police to say i legally punished her and she died. irfan sharif made the confession in an eight minute call, about an hour after his family's flight had landed in islamabad on the 10th of august last year, before sarah's body was found. he's on trial, accused of her murder alongside sarah's stepmother, benazir bhutto and uncle faisal malik. opening their trial today, the prosecutor said all the defendants played a part in a campaign of abuse against sarah, leading to her death. he told jurors that doctors found sarah had dozens of injuries, burns and broken bones after her body was found in bed at her home in surrey on the 10th of august last year. and those are the latest news headlines for now. i'm tatiana sanchez. more

>> right. it's 238. you're watching. good afternoon britain. but there's plenty more coming up. this afternoon on the channel coming up. this afternoon on the channel, including martin daubney, who's up at 3:00. martin, what have you got in store for us today, then ? store for us today, then? >> well, we've got a monster monday of sensational exclusives. exclusive one rachel reeves. make sure you're sitting down because we asked her, does the labour party have any plans for slavery reparations? you will not want to miss that. exclusive. two a shocking new report shows a quarter of a million immigrants had no basic criminal record checks when they came into the uk. i'll reveal the full list of occupations where they are dangerously close to vulnerable people with no criminal record checks. exclusive three the lion of london bridge they called him roy larner, the millwall fan who

stepped in and confronted isis terrorists stabbed eight times at london bridge terror attack in 2017. he was rewarded saving 30 lives. called a hero. now they're making a movie about his life. i'll be joined with him. is it time to pay sir keir starmer 300 grand a year? well, i'll be joined by john caldwell, the phones 4u billionaire who thinks he should have his pay doubled. really? some people think they should get some pay back from the pm. and finally , back from the pm. and finally, there's been a dangerous rise in animal sacrifices, it appears. is that being driven by cultural phenomenons? i'll be joined by dame andrea jenkins later on in the show. action packed. 326. >> yes, i did see that pretty shocking twitter post of the insides of an animal just lying there. let's get to the bottom of that one. thanks, martin. >> yeah. curiouser and curiouser. >> up at three is martin daubney. >> of course he is indeed. but the restoration of hms victory, now lord nelson's iconic warship of course, has sparked quite a bit of controversy today due to

guess what the use of french oak. >> yes. >> yes. >> the ship that sank the french fleet. well, it's sort of becoming french. critics are upset that the timber from france is being used on such a symbol of british naval supremacy. yes. >> the project manager, simon williams, to his credit, did acknowledge the irony. but he stated that french forests are better managed and provide the high quality wood necessary for the restoration, so even our words aren't good enough. now our forests. >> despite the backlash , project >> despite the backlash, project leaders argue that using french oak is a practical solution to preserve the ship's historic integrity. >> okay. well, joining us now is historian doctor luke blaxill. is this where we are now? we have to use french oak for hms victory . victory. >> well, it's rather ironic, isn't >> well