{"id":3593,"date":"2026-10-31T17:04:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T12:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3593"},"modified":"2026-10-31T17:04:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T12:04:00","slug":"uk-pm-open-to-formal-apology-for-britains-role-in-slavery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3593","title":{"rendered":"UK PM open to formal apology for Britain’s role in slavery"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he is open to calls for a formal apology for Britain\u2019s historical role in slavery, \u200bbefore attending next week\u2019s Commonwealth summit<\/a> at which he is likely \u200cto face demands for financial reparations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Writing in the Guardian<\/em> newspaper, Burnham said Britain was \u201coffering a structured dialogue with those affected by the transatlantic slave trade\u201d, in which at \u200bleast 12.5 million Africans were abducted and sold into slavery.<\/p>\n

\u201cListening to \u200bcalls for a formal apology on behalf of the British \u2060state will form an important part of this process, and I am \u200bopen to them,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

But Burnham rejected calls for financial reparations<\/a>, writing: \u201cI do \u200bnot 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 \u200bno personal part.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the 15th to the 19th century, millions of Africans \u200bwere sold into slavery by European traders, with Britain transporting an estimated 3.2 million \u200cpeople \u2060across the Atlantic, according to the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda next week, King Charles, who is touring the Caribbean, said it was \u201conly right that we should \u200backnowledge the great suffering \u200band injustices of \u2060the past\u201d.<\/p>\n

Caribbean leaders are expected to press demands for reparations, which they have often framed in terms of \u200bdebt relief, development finance, education, healthcare and climate resilience.<\/p>\n

Burnham \u200balso wrote \u2060in the Guardian<\/em> that he wanted to \u201claunch a new drive on debt\u201d, including by helping more vulnerable countries \u201crepay over a longer time period and with better \u2060rates\u201d.<\/p>\n

Antigua \u200band Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne welcomed Burnham\u2019s \u200bcomments and proposals for practical assistance, though he added in a Facebook post: \u201cThe Caribbean\u2019s longstanding \u200bposition on reparatory justice remains unchanged.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he is open to calls for a formal apology for Britain\u2019s historical role in slavery, \u200bbefore attending next week\u2019s Commonwealth summit at which he is likely \u200cto face demands for financial reparations. Writing in the Guardian newspaper, Burnham said Britain was \u201coffering a structured dialogue with those affected by the transatlantic slave trade\u201d, in which at \u200bleast 12.5 million Africans were abducted and sold into slavery. \u201cListening to \u200bcalls for a formal apology on behalf of the British \u2060state will form an important…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3593\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}