Attorney Frank Phipps, is suggesting that members of the legal profession who are Queens Counsel (QC), should give up the title in protest against the Queen as the country's head of State and as part of the lobby for slavery reparations.
He believes this radical action would be a strong symbolic gesture for the legal profession to show how serious it takes these two issues.
This is not the first time such a proposal has been made, but Phipps, who is a Queens Counsel, argues that recent events and discussions have elevated the issue again to the public spotlight.
According to Phipps, the time has long gone for the Queen to be removed and the legal path for reparations is possible.
“It is clear that the queen does not regard this as being important because she has taken no such initiative so far. The second point is that the queen of England does not take initiatives on her own but acts upon the advise of a Cabinet. It is inconceivable to be that the British Monarch would refer to the Judicial committee of the Privy council the question of reparation without taking advise from the Cabinet …… I think there is absolutely no prospect of the British cabinet advising the queen on the matter of reparations to the privy council,” Phipps stated.
In the meantime, Queens Counsel Hugh Small argues that despite the strong local sentiment there is little to no chance that the UK will address the issue of reparations at this time.
“It is going to be a long struggle because there is no international body that is currently set up that can give reparations. The argument is going to have to be pressed over and over and without any break up in our determination for years to come. It is only after the conscience of the world has had some impact on not just Britain but other European nations that have been enslavers and whose development has come about as a result of slavery. It is only then that we will get something to happen. I don’t know when it will happen but we will continue to press the argument,’ Small said.
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