A Guardian report describes a campaign of lobbying, legal pressure and media commentary aimed at derailing the Church of England's £100m fund to atone for its involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. The fund, announced in 2023 and known internally as Project Spire, has become a flashpoint in Britain's debate over colonial history.
The Church Commissioners, who manage the Church of England's endowment, announced in 2023 that they would establish the Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice. The initiative has drawn a sustained backlash led by Nigel Biggar, a retired professor, Conservative peer and Anglican priest.
"This is virtue signalling," Biggar said. "These are elites who are trying to demonstrate that they are being progressive."
Biggar discussed the campaign on a Spectator podcast in September alongside Katie Lam, a Conservative MP who has led opposition to the fund in the House of Commons and coordinated a letter from 27 MPs and peers in December.
"I've got north of 100 parish churches in my constituency, many of them crumbling," Lam said.
Dozens of critical articles, many by Biggar and like-minded writers, have appeared in publications including the Spectator, the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Times. The Guardian reports that Biggar has moved from a fringe voice to one of the most widely published proponents of revisionist theories about colonialism and the British empire.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The Church of England is one of the largest British institutions to commit significant money to slavery reparations, and the campaign against it will be watched by other institutions weighing similar responses.
- The fight tests how far political and media pressure can shape decisions that institutions frame as moral atonement.
- The outcome could influence the wider global reparations debate, which has gained ground in the Caribbean and beyond.
Background
The transatlantic slave trade and the British empire's role in it have become a focus of intensifying public debate, including calls from Caribbean nations for reparations from former colonial powers. The Church Commissioners have acknowledged the church's historical involvement in the trade, and the fund announced in 2023 was intended to address that involvement. Biggar, who recently published "Reparations: Slavery and the Tyranny of Imaginary Guilt," has become a leading voice arguing against contemporary responsibility for historical injustice, and the backlash has turned the fund into a flashpoint in British public life.
Key Perspectives
Nigel Biggar and opponents of the fund: See the £100m commitment as virtue signalling by elites seeking to appear progressive, and argue resources would be better spent on pressing needs such as crumbling parish churches.
Katie Lam and parliamentary allies: Lam, who represents a constituency with more than 100 parish churches, has made the case against the fund in the Commons and mobilised 27 MPs and peers to sign a letter opposing it.
Supporters of the fund and reparations advocates: The fund was established to make amends for the church's documented involvement in the slave trade, and its name reflects goals of healing, repair and justice. Critics of the campaign argue the opposition amounts to an attempt to revise how Britain remembers its colonial past.
What to Watch
- Whether the Church Commissioners publicly reaffirm, modify or delay the £100m commitment as pressure builds.
- Further parliamentary activity, including written questions, exchanges with ministers or renewed letters from MPs and peers.
- How the church's own governing bodies respond, including any internal debate over the fund's future.