Burnham ‘open’ to formal apology for slavery, but rules out reparations

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he is open to calls for a formal apology for Britain’s historical role in slavery.

Britain was “offering a structured dialogue with those affected by the transatlantic slave trade”, in which at ​least 12.5 million Africans were abducted and sold into slavery, Burnham wrote, before attending next week’s Commonwealth summit at which he is likely to face demands for financial reparations wrote on the Guardian newspaper

“Listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state will form an important part of this process, and I am open to them,” he added.

But Burnham rejected calls for financial reparations, writing: “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.”

From the 15th to the 19th century, millions of Africans were sold into slavery ​by European traders, with Britain transporting an estimated 3.2 million people across the Atlantic, according to the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database.

Caribbean leaders are expected to press demands for reparations, which they have often framed in terms of debt relief, development finance, education, healthcare and climate resilience.

King Charles, who is touring the Caribbean, said it was “only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of the past”.