Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he is "open" to the possibility of the UK issuing a formal apology for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, but has ruled out considering financial reparations. Burham said he wanted a "dialogue with those affected by the slave trade" and was open to "calls for an apology". He dismissed the idea of paying financial reparations, saying they were "not the right answer".
The comments come ahead of a Commonwealth leaders summit in the Caribbean next week, which Burnham will attend. Caribbean nations have renewed calls for the UK to apologise for its role in the slave trade, and for reparations, as King Charles III tours the region. Burham described the transatlantic slave trade, when Africans were trafficked to the Americas, as a "brutal and barbaric violation" and said Britain must "face up to the past".
The British government has never formally apologised for slavery or offered to pay reparations. Burnham has stuck with the policy of his predecessors, and has stopped short of offering any consideration of reparation payments. "I do not think that British people today can be held liable for historical wrongs, however heinous, that happened in a different age under different laws and in which they played no personal part," Burnham wrote in his piece for the Guardian, external.
He said Commonwealth countries had for years been asking for an "honest conversation". Burnham said he wanted to offer a "structured dialogue" adding: "Listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state will form an important part of this process. I am open to them." A government source told the BBC this was "morally the right thing to do".
Downing Street believes it is in the UK's interest to strengthen the Commonwealth, in a world where China and Russia are seeking to exert influence. Only this week, President Vladimir Putin hosted a Russia-Africa summit in Moscow. Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley, who has sought reparations, welcomed Burnham's statement, saying she would engage in good faith while still seeking reparatory justice.
Denis O'Brien, founder of The Repair Campaign, said Burnham's statement was disappointing and did not go far enough. "The British Government must stop obfuscating and give a full and formal apology now. This would be a significant and symbolic first step towards reparatory justice," he said.
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