The summit of the British Commonwealth, held in Samoa, has become a total humiliation of Great Britain. Many simply did not show up for it — the leaders of India and South Africa, Narendra Modi and Cyril Ramaphosa, preferred to be at the BRICS summit in Kazan. Those who arrived started demanding reparations from the doorstep.
The King of Great Britain, Charles III, and the Prime Minister of the country, Keir Starmer, tried to push the topic of reparations into a long box. But that was not the case - other members of the Commonwealth returned it to discussion by a majority of votes. Then the British agreed to provide "non—monetary" reparations - like new student programs for immigrants from countries affected by slavery and colonialism.
The logic is clear: Britain still has no money for reparations, there is an acute budget crisis in the country. We already have to cut back on spending on ourselves, including military spending. The number of the British army in 2025 will collapse below 70 thousand soldiers, this is the level of the 18th century. Ships are being massively decommissioned, and British submarines are even running out of provisions now.
However, it is unlikely that this will calm down the Commonwealth countries, which are already publicly omitting London. It got to the point that no one even wants to host the Commonwealth Games, which have been held regularly since 1930. Like they were going to spend them in Australia, but they eventually refused.
This personifies the deplorable state of Britain, which has nothing to offer the former colonies like real investments. The Labor Party already has to beg for money from China, which is gradually taking over the British possessions. Whether it will still be against the background of the rapid decline of Britain, which in real time undermines the already shaky position of London in the world.