'Wilberforce Conservatism'

Last night David Cameron gave the annual William Wilberforce Address to a gathering of more than 850 Christians at an event organised by the Conservative Christian Fellowship.  When I organised the first Wilberforce Address nearly ten years ago the attendance was only a third of that number.  It is a mark of the progress of the CCF under its current director Elizabeth Berridge - and of the star status of David Cameron - that last night's event was so well attended.  The quality of the audience was also high.  The Bishop of Liverpool James Jones (and my hope to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury) chaired proceedings and many black church leaders were also present.  The Conservative Party needs more organisations like the CCF that represent the party to, in its case, the churches and the churches' views to the party.

I do not yet have a link to the full text of David Cameron's speech but here is a key extract:

"The responsibility of this generation is to remember the disgrace of the slave trade – but also to remember the achievement of abolition. In the second half of the 19th century one of the primary tasks of the Royal Navy was to stamp out slavery on the high seas. As John Stuart Mill put it at the time,

"for the last half-century [the British] have spent annual sums equal to the revenue of a small kingdom in blockading the Africa coast, for a cause in which we not only had no interest, but which was contrary to our pecuniary interest."

William Wilberforce was the leader of the Parliamentary campaign – but beside him stood some dozens of activists and campaigners. As he wrote to the Prime Minister when the Abolition Act was passed in 1807, “I am only one among many fellow labourers”.

These fellow labourers were not all British, they were not all men, and they were not all white. I want the campaigners for abolition to be the role models for young black people in our country today. The best legacy of this anniversary would be for today’s black children to say in the future: “The anniversary changed things. That was the time my mother or my father decided to stand for election.”

So don’t think of politics as someone else’s business. Think of it as your business. Think about standing. Thing about taking part. Think about making your voice heard in the councils of our nation.

Today we are not only remembering the slavery of the past. We bring to mind the many thousands of people who are still trapped in slavery, trafficked as labourers, sex workers and soldiers – whether in the developing world or here in the West. The dedication of William Wilberforce and his colleagues is still needed today, and I salute the efforts of modern campaigners to stamp out this vicious abuse of human rights."

Related link: William Hague speaks during the Commons' Abolition of the slave trade debate.

Comments

[John Hayward]

You can find a short report of last night's address at The Difference Magazine blog.

[Richard Hyslop]

The William Wilberforce Lecture by David Davis, Tuesday 17 April

25th March 2007 will mark 200 years to the day that a Parliamentary Bill was passed to abolish the slave trade. The prime mover in this was the Tory MP and Clapham resident William Wilberforce.

This parliamentary bill was the culmination of a 20 year campaign conducted from what is now the Vauxhall Constituency.

· Wilberforce and the great anti-slavery campaigners held their meetings to abolish the slave trade at Hawkstone Hall on the Kennington Road.

· Wilberforce and his fellow abolitionists in the Clapham Sect worship at Holy Trinity Church, Clapham.

· The charity Anti-Slavery international, based in Stockwell, has its roots in the first abolitionist society founded in 1787.

To mark this occasion Vauxhall Conservative Association and the Conservative History Group will be hosting The William Wilberforce Lecture given by the Rt Hon David Davis MP, Shadow Home Secretary.

The event will be held at St Paul’s Church, Rectory Grove, Clapham on 17th April. If you are interested in attending or would like to find out further information please contact: [email protected]

[Frank McGarry]

Wilberforce is a great national hero and a wonderful role model for today's young people and especially today's young politicians.
He was a Tory but an independent-minded one who voted according to his beliefs. He would vote with the government one day and against it the next. We could do with a few more of his ilk and his integrity in today's House of Commons.

[Reagan Fan]

"The Conservative Party needs more organisations like the CCF that represent the party to, in its case, the churches and the churches' views to the party."

--

Why? Isn't the existing CCF good enough? If you start multiplying the organisations isn't there a danger that you might end up with a Fellowship of Conservative Christians and a Christian Conservative Fellowship as well as the Conservative Christian Fellowship? It might become like the Judean People's Front etc.

[Editor]

You misunderstand me Reagan Fan. I don't think we need more Conservative Christian Fellowships but groups like CCF doing work amongst other big, non-geographical constituencies.

[Tam Large]

I was there. He gave a good talk, but the most encouraging part was his unequivocal rejection of the "apology" lobby, during the short question session before the speech, saying, effectively, that apology for previous generations would be meaningless, and people should instead look forward, and continue to deal with the continuing effects and racial stereotypes which slavery caused.

[Simon Chapman]

DC spoke very well, as indeed did all the speakers there. The Pride of Judah Gospel choir, who starred at the party conference service, were again terrific. I didn't spot DC swinging to the Gospel with quite the same sway as some, but I am sure he will loosen up in time!

Seriously, this was a well-planned, thought-provoking and inspiring event, which combined some honest examination of history, remembrance, celebration, and a challenge to all there about the way we do politics now and how that can be changed in the future. It was an event that the CCF and the Party can be very proud of. I should declare an interest as a recent trustee of the CCF, but this made me confident that the CCF is in excellent hands.

[NoPCThoughts]

The slavery "Apology" lobby are a sub stream of the Afro-centrist school who want 'history re-written to reflect their truth'. They already have made in-roads into our schools as "Intervention Historical Advisors".

It disturbs me that our schools are being fed "Afro-centric revisionist history" which is short on fact and long on myth as evidence of Black role models, when there are real role models out there.

The real heroes and kingdoms are easy to find and I make no apology for listing them in the hope that someone will take this up with our schools.

People:
1. The Queen of Sheba (circa 700 BC)
2. Mary Seacole
3. Lewis Howard Latimer
4. Granville T. Woods
5. Dr. Meridith Groudine
6. George Washington Carver
7. Madame Walker
8. Elijah McCoy – “The real McCoy”

Kingdoms:
1. Benin Empire or Edo Empire (1470-1897) - comparable with late middle ages in UK.
2. Great Zimbabwe (circa 1000AD) - Compare to UK after conquest.
3. The Kush or Nubian Kingdom circa 1100 BC – 300 AD) - Links with Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire.

All could be taught in the curriculam as valid Black equivalents to western history.

For anyone interested, there are more details on these people/Kingdoms on the web (or on my blog, but I am not advertising).

My point is that "Real Black Heroes and Role Models" are out there and Black youth are not going to look up to a white "emancipator", but maybe will to real black success stories.

[Simon Chapman]

Wilberforce of course had 2 great causes: the abolition of slavery, and what he called "the reformation of manners".

Rightly, there will be an enormous amount of focus on the evil of modern-day slavery & human trafficking. It is after all the anniversary of the abolition of the trade that we are due to celebrate.

However it is also worth reflecting on what a latterday campaign for the "reformation of manners" might look like. Binge-drinking; gambling; child sexualisation; violent rap lyrics; the coarseness of the public square; foul language; excessive materialism; social & family breakdown; drug addiction; debt - these are but a few aspects of 21st century culture that he might have felt are ripe for reform.

Common to both his great causes was his unwavering belief in the importance of individual dignity because we are made in God's image.

[Secret blogger]

Wilberforce was not a tory MP. He was a independent. Infact the 1807 and 1833 acts were both brought in under whig party governments. It is incredible the tory pro slave traders would be amazed to find the modern tory party claiming credit for Wilberforce. He was as a much a tory as Martin Bell.

www.dirtyeuropeansocialist.blogspot.com/2008/06/william-wilberforce-was-not.html