The demand for reparations to atone for slavery and tackle the modern legacy of structural racism left in its wake is by no means a new campaign. Following the murder of George Floyd, global Black Lives Matter protests have become more amplified and have energised the calls for justice. But these rallying cries have been met with dismissal and inaction from a political class who are, quite simply, disconnected from reality. “Slavery is not our history – it interrupted our history. Nor is it a politically partisan issue. It’s a feature of European development with a continual price paid by blac…