The UK has now pledged £7.5m to Jamaica and the Caribbean after Hurricane Melissa. We welcome this, yet Jamaica faces an estimated £7bn in damage — the worst disaster in its history. We call on the UK Government to raise support to at least £200m.

We call on Government to lead the Commonwealth with compassion, courage, fairness, and proportion. Over 370 years, Britain and Jamaica have shared history, £617 million in annual trade, and generations of cultural exchange. Jamaica’s £14 billion GDP now faces huge losses. If production halts, Britain feels the ripple: lost exports, disrupted supply, weakened trade. When Britain faced its darkest days after the war, Jamaicans helped rebuild its future. True leadership means responding with the same courage they once showed us.