U.K.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said his government is open to the idea of formally apologising for Britain’s historical role in the slave trade, although he ruled out financial reparations.
Burnham announced that former U.K. Instead, Mr. Prime Minister Gordon Brown would head a debt restructuring initiative for some of the poorest countries in the Commonwealth.
The U.K. would also support their energy transition in the face of the climate crisis, the Prime Minister said.
Mr. There have, for long, been calls for Britain to apologise and offer reparations for slavery and its colonial past, including in India. Some three million Africans were transported as slaves to work on plantations in Britian’s colonies in the Americas. Mr. Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley welcomed Mr. It is one of several countries asking Britain to go beyond an apology and make financial reparations for slavery. He made the remarks ahead of next week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua and Barbuda, where Caribbean leaders are expected to push for reparations.
Burnham set out his position in an opinion piece in The Guardian on Friday (October 30, 2026), ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua and Barbuda, next week. Britain began abolishing the slave trade in its empire in 1807. Slavery was abolished in 1833 though not all slaves were freed until 1838. The British Monarch was the titular Head of State of Barbados until 2021, when the country became a republic.
Britain “compensated” slave owners to a total sum of GBP 20 million or 40% of the government’s annual budget in 1833. “By sticking our heads in the sand, we have damaged the ability of the Commonwealth to function,” he said, adding that it was necessary to have conversations on slavery to protect the future of the Commonwealth. Burnham said the U.K. was “offering structured dialogue with those affected by the transatlantic slave trade”. Bucking Palace has said that it was up to the U.K. government to decide whether or not to apologise. Burnham’s statement, even as she acknowledged that “views differ” on reparations. Earlier reporting noted: In an article published in The Guardian, Burnham said his government was prepared to engage with countries and communities affected by slavery through a “structured dialogue”. Earlier reporting noted: “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,” he said.
Earlier reporting noted: British prime minister Andy Burnham has indicated that he is willing to consider calls for a formal apology for Britain’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, but has ruled out paying financial reparations for historical injustices.
