Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade

Commenting on the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade on Sunday, Bedford Borough Liberal Democrat Group Leader Michael Headley said:

"This anniversary is an important reminder of the inhumanity of the slave trade, and the extent of the suffering it caused for millions of enslaved Africans over several hundred years.

"The occasion should also serve to remind us that slavery exists today in various forms. Millions of people across the world live in conditions of forced labour, while human trafficking is a growing, global problem. The UN estimates that at any at any one point in time 2.5 million men, women and children are victims of trafficking.

"Slavery was an affront to humanity in 1807 and it remains so in 2007. While marking the anniversary of the end of the slave trade in 2007 and celebrating the work of those who helped to achieve it, we must also recognise that as a civilised country we have a duty to do all we can to clamp down on the abominable practice of modern slavery. One way in which Britain can do this is by ratifying the European Council Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings in order to improve international co-operation in the fight against human trafficking, and we call on the Government to do this as a matter of urgency."

On March 25th 1807 Parliament passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, bringing to an end a period of over 200 years in which Britain was at the centre of a trade in millions of enslaved Africans. It was not until 1833 that Parliament finally voted to ban slavery itself across the British Empire.