Church of England Faces Pressure to Drop £100m Slavery Reparations Plan as Legal, Political Opposition Grows
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Jun 18
Church of England Faces Pressure to Drop £100m Slavery Reparations Plan as Legal, Political Opposition Grows
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jun 18
Summary
Project Spire, the Church of England’s £100m slavery reparations plan announced in 2023, remains unspent and is now under mounting pressure to be abandoned.
The backlash centers on both evidence and legality: critics dispute whether historic Church investments were directly tied to slave trading and argue Church funds must be used for parishes and clergy, not reparatory justice.
That pressure has hardened politically, with 27 MPs and peers calling earlier this year for the plan to be scrapped, while opposition at General Synod exposed broader hostility as the Church tries to set up a separate charity to move the project forward.
Supporters say the Church’s own audit found its predecessor fund invested heavily in the South Sea Company, which trafficked about 34,000 enslaved Africans, and argue the legacy still shapes poverty and inequality in black communities today.
The dispute has left the Church caught between its post-2020 racial reckoning and a harsher political climate, raising doubts over whether one of its biggest attempts to address slavery links will survive.
Is the Church's £100m reparations fund based on a billion-pound historical blunder?
Can the Church atone for its past without abandoning its struggling parishes today?
Project Spire and the £100 Million Reparations Fund: Legal, Political, and Moral Challenges Facing the Church of England’s Response to Slavery
Overview
Project Spire faces intense legal and political challenges as of June 2026, with its legitimacy rooted in the Church Commissioners’ proven historical links to transatlantic chattel enslavement. High-ranking officials have publicly defended the project, emphasizing the rigorous work of historians and auditors that established these links. Despite this, the historical basis of Project Spire remains a point of contention, leading to significant public and political pressure. Various groups are questioning the project’s historical narrative, accountability, and proposed remedies, creating a contentious environment that threatens its progress and highlights deep divisions over how to address historical injustices.