Andy Burnham is facing Labour demands to go further today after he paved the way for a formal apology over the slave trade.
The PM has been warned his surprise concession is still ‘lacking’ as ministers were forced to play down fears the UK will end up paying reparations.
The intervention by Mr Burnham comes ahead of a potentially stormy Commonwealth summit this week, which was already set to be dominated by the issue.
It appeared to blindside the King, after journalists travelling with the monarch were assured as late as Thursday evening that the Government’s policy was ‘absolutely no apology’.
Mr Burnham, who will join the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) this week, told The Guardian he wanted a ‘structured dialogue’ with those affected by slavery.
‘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,’ he said.
Andy Burnham is facing Labour demands to go further today after he paved the way for a formal apology over the slave trade
The intervention appeared to blindside the King, after journalists travelling with the monarch were assured as late as Thursday evening that the Government’s policy was ‘absolutely no apology’
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, head of an all-party Parliamentary group on Afrikan Reparations, said an apology must be the prelude to ‘concrete steps’ on addressing the responsibility of the UK state
He expressed his personal ‘sorrow and regret’ while rejecting demands for reparations.
Instead the premier suggested launching a drive on debt-servicing to help countries repay over a longer time period with better rates.
Chancellor John Healey, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and former prime minister Gordon Brown will be at the summit to help design a scheme.
However, his remarks were seized on by Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, as opening the door to exactly that.
She thanked Mr Burnham for ‘breaking new ground and recognising that this is the right thing, and the moral thing, to do by ensuring that we move to the next stage of engagement on this difficult and emotional issue’.
Mr Burnham’s statement has led to speculation as to whether the King, who is head of the Commonwealth, will be forced to make a public apology on behalf of Britain.
The monarch is due to make a keynote speech to the gathering of leaders in Antigua on Tuesday.
Kemi Badenoch has suggested the UK might need to boycott Commonwealth summits if they become ‘an exercise in presenting Britain with demands for cash’.
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, head of an all-party Parliamentary group on Afrikan Reparations, said an apology must be the prelude to ‘concrete steps’ on addressing the responsibility of the UK state.
That must go wider than simply financial reparations, she argued.
‘Nobody is asking the average British person to take responsibility for African chattel enslavement,’ Ms Ribeiro-Addy posted on social media.
‘This is about the British state, which protected and profited from it.
‘Reparations is not something you simply write a cheque for, it’s an ongoing process of repair that must begin with an apology.’
Mr Healey told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme that financial reparations were not on the table.
‘The Prime Minister has said, look, we are open to a discussion about an apology,’ he said.
‘He feels that that’s the right thing, particularly ahead of the Commonwealth leaders’ conference.
John Healey told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme that financial reparations were not on the table
‘But he doesn’t believe that reparations are the right approach, and considering a formal apology doesn’t mean accepting that British people now should accept the financial liability for any part in things that happened hundreds of years ago, in which they had no role.’
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds denied that reparations would logically follow an apology.
‘I don’t agree with that,’ she told Sky News.
‘I think the symbolism … of issuing a formal apology is powerful.
‘It is something that people in the region are talking about and have asked for, but as the Government has made clear, that will not involve financial reparations because the British people of today didn’t have a role in the slave trade hundreds of years ago and in fact, there were brave men and women in this country who led the campaign for the abolition of slavery, which is something that should be recognised too.’
