Burnham to discuss slavery apology and debt reset with Commonwealth leaders

Prime Minister Andy Burnham says he is open to listening to calls for a formal British apology for the transatlantic slave trade, but has ruled out financial reparations ahead of a Commonwealth leaders’ summit in the Caribbean next week.

Burnham said he wanted a “structured dialogue” with countries affected by the trade and that listening to calls for an apology on behalf of the British state would be an important part of it. “I am open to them,” he wrote in an article for the Guardian.

He described the slave trade as a “brutal and barbaric violation” and said Britain must “face up to the past”. But he rejected reparations, arguing that people alive today could not be held liable for historical wrongs in which they played no personal part.

Caribbean countries have renewed calls for an apology and reparatory justice. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley welcomed Burnham’s statement and said she would engage in good faith while continuing to seek reparations. Denis O’Brien, founder of The Repair Campaign, said the position was disappointing and did not go far enough; he called for a full and formal apology as a first step towards reparatory justice.

The British government has never formally apologised for slavery or offered reparations. Britain’s 1833 law abolishing slavery provided compensation to plantation owners for the loss of enslaved people, and the government finished paying off the debt incurred to fund those payments in 2015.

A government source described an apology as “morally the right thing to do”. Downing Street also sees strengthening the Commonwealth as in the UK’s interest amid efforts by China and Russia to exert influence, the BBC reported.

Update

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to discuss a possible formal apology for the slave trade with Commonwealth leaders in Antigua, while setting out plans for a debt “reset” to help member countries facing high interest costs.

The talks are due to begin at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where representatives from 56 countries are gathering. Downing Street says Burnham will outline the debt proposal. The BBC reported that Britain is not planning to pay reparations but may issue a formal apology next year, when it holds the G20 presidency.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the government was open to a formal apology, describing it as a significant step. He said the UK did not believe financial payments by today’s taxpayers were the right response to historic slavery. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has also opposed an apology, arguing it could lead to demands for compensation.

The change in approach follows disagreement at the previous Commonwealth leaders’ meeting in Samoa two years ago, when reparations were disputed as an agenda item. Burnham has said that refusing to discuss the legacies of slavery had damaged the Commonwealth’s ability to function.