Burnham open to a British apology for slavery, but rules out reparations

Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said his country is open to apologising for Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade, but he has ruled out the reparations that campaigners have demanded for years. He set out the position in an opinion article in The Guardian on Friday, ahead of a summit of Commonwealth nations in Antigua and Barbuda.

In the article, Burnham wrote: 'I want to express my sorrow and regret for the pain and suffering of so many millions of people, and to recognise the way it still shapes our world today' — words that amounted to a personal apology. He also said Britain would work on debt restructuring for the poorest countries, in what has been described as a historic turn in London's stance.

A four-day summit of the Commonwealth — more than 50 nations formerly colonised by Britain — begins on Sunday in St John's, the capital of Antigua and Barbuda. King Charles, who arrived in the Caribbean last week, is hosting the leaders.

Caribbean nations that have pressed the reparations demand more forcefully in recent years said they expect more from Britain. Opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, however, criticised Burnham's move as 'navel-gazing'.

Transatlantic slavery, which lasted from the 16th to the 19th centuries, saw some 12 million enslaved Africans torn from their homes and forcibly transported by ship to the Americas. Enslaved people were sold to plantations and as domestic workers, and their labour produced goods that built wealth in Europe.

Britain and Portugal together accounted for about 70 percent of all Africans exported to the Americas, while France, Spain and the Netherlands also traded in significant numbers. According to Britain's national archives, Britain alone transported 3.1 million Africans to British colonies in the Caribbean, the Americas and elsewhere; only 2.7 million arrived, as many perished on the treacherous sea journeys.

British abolitionists began campaigning against slavery in 1787, particularly in cities such as Manchester. In 1807 Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act, essentially banning new enslavement. More than three decades later, in 1834, Britain banned slavery entirely, although the practice continued for several more years.

In 2006, then prime minister Tony Blair expressed 'deep sorrow' over Britain's role in the slave trade, but stopped short of an apology or any talk of reparations. Burnham's statement comes during Britain's Black History Month and as the Commonwealth meets in Antigua and Barbuda.

Since 2013, the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) has called on the Western countries involved to acknowledge their role and pay monetary reparations for slavery, a call that has grown louder in recent years, led by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley. Ghana, from where around 10 to 15 percent of enslaved people were transferred, played a major role in a historic United Nations resolution in March in which 123 countries voted to declare the trafficking of enslaved Africans the gravest crime against humanity. All European nations abstained, while the United States, Israel and Argentina voted against.

In June, at a conference in Ghana, Mottley announced a 19-point manifesto calling for a 'full and formal apology', monetary compensation not only from nations but also from institutions including corporations and churches, as well as technology transfer, education and healthcare funding, debt relief and economic development. In his article, Burnham said London wants to keep diplomatic and trade ties with its Commonwealth allies, writing that 'in an increasingly divided and dangerous world, our family of nations in the Commonwealth is vital to our interests'. He said Britain will allow the most vulnerable countries to repay their debts over a longer period, with former chancellor Gordon Brown — who spearheaded the UK's 1991 initiative to reduce debt for poorer countries — leading the effort.