And how far back is a government responsible for it's predecessors actions? There certainly is a point in time where it stops, no one in their right mind would ask for reparations for things that happened in medieval times. But where is that point? I can't say.

As for the English debt, start by acknowledging and teaching the horrors your empire has caused and go from there. The English pride in "Queen and Country" is incomprehensible to me.