Oxfam branded ‘straightforwardly socialist’ after demanding Britain pays India £52trillion in reparations

Speaking on GB News, historian David Oldroyd-Bolt hit out at the charity after it called for Western nations to pay reparations to former colonies for the first time.

He told Steve N Allen on Free Speech Nation: “This is Oxfam’s descent yet further from what was originally a foundation of Quakers and Oxford dons designed to alleviate poverty in the developing world to a straightforwardly socialist campaigning organisation.

“They’ve taken the highly discredited and deeply discredited work of two Indian Marxist academics, which has decided that between 1756 and 1900, such was our ravaging of the Indian continent that we now need to give them the equivalent of 20 years of our GDP.

“They have blown this up to say that this is yet another instance of the rapacious British getting away with things.

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“You might point out that by 1914, India had the world’s fourth largest cotton industry and the world’s fourth largest railway network. That probably wouldn’t have happened were it not for the British Empire.”

The report, released last week, claimed the sum of £52.85 trillion would cover London in £50 notes nearly four times over.

"Reparations must be made to those who were brutally enslaved and colonised," the report stated, adding that "our modern-day colonial economic system must be made radically more equal to end poverty."

The figure was based on analysis by two Delhi-based Indian economists who identify as Marxists.

The report proposes Western nations should pay former colonies at least £4 trillion annually in reparations and "climate debt".

This climate debt represents costs that Western countries allegedly owe poorer nations to account for climate change impacts.

Oxfam suggests these payments should be funded through increased taxation on the wealthy and corporations.

"The cost should be borne by the richest people who benefit the most," the report stated.

The charity argues that reparations are necessary to "ensure restitution, provide satisfaction, compensate for damages incurred, ensure rehabilitation and prevent future abuses."

However, the report's methodology has faced criticism from academics.

Professor Tirthankar Roy from the London School of Economics described the analysis as "mindless illiteracy" from leftist activists.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, he challenged the core claims about British extraction of wealth from India.

"This outflow is blown up by activists posing as scholars using dishonest tools posing as 'methods'," Roy stated.

He particularly questioned the timeframe of the analysis, noting it began "decades before most of India was colonised".

The £52.58 trillion figure is reportedly an update to an analysis published in 2021.

An Oxfam spokesperson said:

“Understanding colonialism and its lasting impacts on the deeply unequal world we live in today, is crucial if we are to end poverty and inequality. Oxfam believes it is reasonable to ask the richest countries, who have benefitted most from colonialism, to pay reparations for the harm done.

“It’s not about asking individuals who are already struggling to pay for the wrongs of the past, reparations should be financed by those who continue to profit from these systems, such as the wealthiest individuals and corporations, not ordinary people.”