My father was Jamaican. He passed away earlier this year in Jamaica — one of the Windrush generation who carried Jamaica in their hearts even as they built new lives in Britain. Like many of his peers, he believed in a shared destiny between the island that raised him and the country that received him.

I was born here, but Jamaica has always been my spiritual home, the rhythm beneath my politics, the place where my story begins.

When a storm like Hurricane Melissa hits, the entire diaspora feels it. We sit here in London, Manchester, Birmingham, glued to our screens, waiting for word from family, praying the roof still stands, the crops still grow, that people are safe.

Now we know the truth. Hurricane Melissa has caused catastrophic damage across Jamaica. Hundreds of housands of homes have been destroyed, crops and livestock wiped out, and key infrastructure — roads, bridges, schools and hospitals — either destroyed or severely damaged. Entire communities are displaced, and the island’s already fragile economy faces another immense setback.

According to Reuters, total regional losses from Hurricane Melissa are estimated at US $48–52 billion, with Jamaica among the worst-affected nations. The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) has already triggered a record US $70.8 million payout to Jamaica — the largest in its history — underscoring the scale of devastation.

For perspective, Jamaica’s GDP for 2024 was US $19.9 billion. This single storm has inflicted economic losses equivalent to a quarter of the island’s annual output.

And this follows just sixteen months after Hurricane Beryl (2024), which caused nearly US $1 billion in damage. These back-to-back storms mark the start of a terrifying new normal: extreme hurricanes, intensified by rising ocean temperatures, striking with unprecedented force and frequency.

The climate science is clear. For every one degree of ocean warming, hurricane intensity roughly doubles. Jamaica’s contribution to global emissions is negligible, yet it is forced to pay the price of the West’s industrial legacy. The descendants of the colonised are now bearing the brunt of the carbon emissions produced by the colonisers.

On 29 October 2025, the United Kingdom announced £2.5 million in aid for Jamaica and £5 million for the wider Caribbean region — a combined £7.5 million regional package. When divided across the affected Caribbean population, that equates to around thirty pence per person.

While any assistance is welcome, Prime Minister, this cosmetic response is painfully out of step with the magnitude of destruction.

We recognise and appreciate the efforts of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the British High Commission in Kingston. Yet this crisis demands more than symbolic relief. It calls for partnership, proportion, and moral responsibility.

We therefore call upon Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the UK Government to act with urgency and vision to:

1. Increase the UK’s contribution to at least £40 million for Jamaica and £100 million for the wider Caribbean, reflecting both the current scale of destruction and the cumulative impact of recent storms.
2. Deploy emergency supplies — including roofing materials, generators, clean-water systems and medical support — through the FCDO, in partnership with the Government of Jamaica and trusted diaspora organisations.
3. Establish a UK–Caribbean Climate Justice and Resilience Partnership to rebuild infrastructure, strengthen disaster-response systems and support long-term adaptation. This partnership should be co-designed with Caribbean governments, UK-based diaspora organisations and Commonwealth institutions.
4. Invite King Charles III, as Head of the Commonwealth, to lead a national public appeal to support Jamaica’s recovery and resilience efforts.
   The Caribbean did not create this crisis — the Western world did.

Britain’s historical and current carbon emissions have helped drive the climate extremes now devastating its former colonies. This is not simply a humanitarian issue but a question of justice, duty and shared history.

If we fail to act decisively, the storms that ravage Jamaica today will become the pattern of tomorrow — stronger, slower, and more destructive. This is our collective moral test.

This is not charity. It is climate justice — the repayment of a moral and environmental debt long overdue.

We urge all people of conscience, Jamaican, Caribbean, African, British, and allies everywhere to sign and share this petition.

Let history record that when the storm came, we did not look away.
We stood together.

For Jamaica.
For justice.
For our shared future.