Adjusted for inflation Mr Mason is working at quite a considerable loss.
Also, that story could only possibly be true if it predates the (gobsmackingly recent) update to our slavery laws which happened under Blair's regime as I recall.
How can you know it to be true if you don't know if it was legally possible? Anybody can say anything whilst drunk (or at any other time) but doesn't make it true in any meaningful sense of the word. I am currently quite drunk. If I decide to sell you for a fiver were you actually sold or did it only happen in my mind? If a newspaper or internet site says a tree fell in the forest did it make a sound?
I have no idea how much it cost us Brits - inflation and the fact I don't own it in any way and all that. Maintainance is really your problem and - again - I'd have no idea I'm just selling something I don't legally own in any way. Whilst we're at it, I can do you a good deal on the wife I also don't own in any way if you're interested