Rally calling on Dorset MP to relinquish Caribbean estate
Campaigners are rallying outside Richard Drax's Charborough Park estate today
Last updated 17th Jul 2021
Campaigners from Dorset and Barbados are calling on South Dorset MP Richard Drax to relinquish his family's Barbadian estate.
They're rallying around the Charborough Park Estate near Winterborne Zelston today, hoping to meet the MP.
The Drax Hall estate in Barbados was established by Richard Drax's ancestors 400 years ago as a sugar plantation. It still belongs to the family.
Campaigners in Dorset and in the Caribbean are asking Richard Drax to pass the 621-acre Drax Hall estate to the people of Barbados.
Trevor Prescod who is a member of the Barbados Parliament said:
"The Drax family established this estate as a sugar plantation more than 400 years ago and for much of this time it was cultivated by slave labour. Drax still owns and benefits from the estate. We say it's time to place the estate with the people of the community, so that it can be used for their benefit instead of for profit."
Many people in the Drax Hall community are descendants of those earlier enslaved.
Trevor added:
"Drax Hall witnessed terrible pain and suffering - and people today still experience disadvantage that is the outcome of generations of slavery. We asked Mr Drax to show moral leadership and to discuss with us how to address the legacy of chattel slavery."
Greatest Hits Radio Dorset asked Richard Drax for a comment but at time of publication there was no reply.
The march and rally on today is organised by Stand Up To Racism Dorset and the South-West TUC. Organisations from across Dorset and the South-West region are participating and the event will be live-streamed to the Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival, online this year.
Lynne Hubbard is co-chair of Stand Up To Racism Dorset.
She said:
"Richard Drax has not responded to polite requests to discuss the future of Drax Hall estate.
"We are rallying peacefully on Saturday to express a growing view that, in the 21st century, it's time to address generations of injustice. We ask those who agree to join us. And we say: 'It's time, Mr Drax'."
Nigel Costley is secretary of the South-West TUC and will also be speaking at Saturday's rally.
He said:
"No one can be held responsible for the actions of their ancestors. But Richard Drax is still sitting on the mountain of gold gained from the horrors of slavery. It's time he paid some back."