UK PM Burnham open to official apology for slave trade, rejects reparations
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British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has signaled openness to an official apology for Britain's role in the slave trade ahead of a Commonwealth leaders' meeting in the Caribbean, while maintaining that reparations are excluded. In an article for The Guardian, Burnham wrote that Britain was a world leader in abolishing slavery and can show leadership again. He expressed condolences and regret for the pain and suffering of millions and said the government offers a structured dialogue with affected parties, with listening to calls for an official apology forming an important part of that process. However, he said Britons today cannot be held liable for historical wrongs and that reparations are not the right answer. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley welcomed the statements and confirmed participation in the dialogue in good faith, while acknowledging divergent views on reparations.
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"We were a world leader in abolishing slavery — and we can show leadership again today," says Burnham. Source: WPA Pool/Getty Images
Ahead of the Commonwealth meeting, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has opened the door to an apology for the slave trade. He remains opposed to reparations.
In the decades-long dispute over how Britain should address its own role in the slave trade, Prime Minister Andy Burnham is open to an official apology. However, like his predecessors, the head of government rules out reparations. "We were a world leader in abolishing slavery — and we can show leadership again today," Burnham wrote in The Guardian.
The Prime Minister will attend the meeting of Commonwealth heads of government in the Caribbean next week. The sensitive issue of slavery during British colonial rule was recently revived by King Charles III's trip to the Caribbean.
Several Caribbean states are demanding that the British apologize for their role in the profitable sale of enslaved people and pay reparations.
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"I want to express my condolences and regret for the pain and suffering of so many millions and acknowledge how this continues to shape our world today," Burnham wrote. The British government is offering a structured dialogue with all those affected. "Listening to calls for an official apology on behalf of the British state will form an important part of this process, and I am open to it."
Unchanged Position on Reparations
However, he does not believe that "the British people of today can be held liable for historical injustice, however abhorrent it may be," Burnham said. Reparation payments were not "the right answer."
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Britain was a leading slave-trading power, particularly in the 18th century. As part of the transatlantic slave trade, an estimated three million Africans were transported by English ships to the Caribbean and to North and South America.
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley welcomed the British Prime Minister's statements. Barbados is committed to this dialogue and will participate in it in good faith, she wrote in a statement circulated on the platform X.
Mottley also reaffirmed, however, that views on the issue of reparations diverge. "We should build on this common ground as we continue to discuss our differences," she wrote.
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UK PM Burnham open to slavery apology but rules out reparations before Commonwealth summit