{"id":5490,"date":"2026-11-01T09:01:43","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T09:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/01\/uk-opens-door-to-slavery-apology-but-rules-out-financial-reparations-businessday-ng\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T09:01:43","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T09:01:43","slug":"uk-opens-door-to-slavery-apology-but-rules-out-financial-reparations-businessday-ng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/01\/uk-opens-door-to-slavery-apology-but-rules-out-financial-reparations-businessday-ng\/","title":{"rendered":"UK opens door to slavery apology but rules out financial reparations \u2013 Businessday NG"},"content":{"rendered":"

The United Kingdom has signalled a possible shift in its position on the transatlantic slave trade, with Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister saying he is open to a formal state apology but ruling out financial reparations to countries affected by slavery.\n<\/p>\n

Burnham said Britain needed to confront its historical role in the trafficking and enslavement of Africans, describing the trade as a \u201cbrutal and barbaric violation\u201d. However, he argued that people living in Britain today should not be held financially responsible for historical crimes committed centuries ago.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d he wrote in an article for The Guardian.\n<\/p>\n

Read also:\n<\/p>\n

His comments come ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, scheduled to begin on November 1 in Antigua, where the question of Britain\u2019s historical responsibility for slavery is expected to feature in discussions. King Charles III is due to open the summit as part of his Caribbean tour, which has renewed attention on calls for an apology and reparatory justice.<\/p>\n

Burnham said Commonwealth countries had long sought an honest conversation about Britain\u2019s role in slavery. He proposed a structured dialogue with affected countries and communities, saying calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state would form an important part of the process.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI am open to them,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

The position has been welcomed by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Afrikan Reparations, although its chairwoman, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, said the government had not gone far enough by stopping short of a formal apology.\n<\/p>\n

Read also:\n<\/p>\n

Speaking to BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today programme, Ribeiro-Addy said acknowledging Britain\u2019s role was not the same as accepting responsibility for its consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cAcknowledgement is not the same as understanding,\u201d she said, arguing that a formal apology would be an important step towards addressing historical injustice. \u201cUntil we apologise, we are never going to be on equal footing.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Ribeiro-Addy also challenged the focus on financial compensation, saying the debate over reparative justice was broader than money. She noted that, to her knowledge, no invoice for financial reparations had been presented to the UK, and argued that concentrating on potential payments risked overlooking calls for recognition and accountability.\n<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s position has also drawn support from senior ministers and opposition figures. Chancellor John Healey said Burnham was open to discussing an apology because it was the right thing to do, particularly ahead of the Commonwealth summit. However, he reiterated that the government did not consider financial reparations appropriate.\n<\/p>\n

Read also:\n<\/p>\n

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch also rejected compensation, arguing that British taxpayers should not be held financially responsible for events that took place generations before they were born. In a post on X, she criticised Burnham\u2019s willingness to discuss an apology, saying the government should not take on additional financial commitments.<\/p>\n

Across the Caribbean, however, calls for reparatory justice remain central to the debate. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who has consistently advocated reparations, welcomed Burnham\u2019s statement and said she would engage in good faith while maintaining her country\u2019s position.\n<\/p>\n

Denis O\u2019Brien, founder of The Repair Campaign, described the British government\u2019s response as inadequate, insisting that it should issue a full formal apology.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe British government must stop obfuscating and give a full and formal apology now,\u201d he said, describing such a move as a significant symbolic first step towards reparatory justice.\n<\/p>\n

A long-running debate over Britain\u2019s historical role<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

The debate comes as King Charles visits Caribbean countries, with renewed attention on the monarchy\u2019s historical connections to slavery. During his visit to the Bahamas, the King referred to the \u201csuffering of the past\u201d, while in Guyana he visited the site of a rebellion by enslaved people against British authorities.<\/p>\n

Britain played a prominent role in the transatlantic slave trade from the 16th century, with English authorities and the monarchy involved in the system that transported millions of Africans to the Americas. Although Parliament passed legislation abolishing slavery in most of the British Empire in 1833, the law compensated slave owners for the loss of the people they had enslaved. The government-funded debt used to finance those payments was not fully repaid until 2015.\n<\/p>\n

Previous British prime ministers have expressed regret over the country\u2019s involvement without committing to reparations. Tony Blair described Britain\u2019s role in the trade as a matter of \u201cdeep sorrow and regret\u201d in 2007. David Cameron rejected reparations during a visit to Jamaica in 2015, urging Caribbean countries to move on, while Rishi Sunak dismissed calls for an apology and reparatory justice in 2023. In 2024, Keir Starmer also ruled out compensation, saying he wanted to focus on the future of the Commonwealth.\n<\/p>\n

The renewed debate also carries diplomatic significance for Britain. Downing Street sees stronger Commonwealth relations as important at a time when China and Russia are seeking to expand their influence among developing countries. But for Caribbean governments and campaigners, the issue goes beyond diplomatic ties, touching on historical accountability, the legacy of slavery and the terms on which former colonies engage with Britain.\n<\/p>\n

Burnham\u2019s proposal for dialogue may create an opening for further engagement, but the gap between Britain\u2019s position and the demands of reparations advocates remains unresolved. Whether a formal apology emerges from the discussions will be an important test of how far the government is prepared to go in addressing the country\u2019s role in the slave trade.\n<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFaith Omoboye<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Faith Omoboye is a foreign affairs correspondent with background in History and International relations. Her work focuses on African politics, diplomacy, and global governance.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Businessday NG<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The United Kingdom has signalled a possible shift in its position on the transatlantic slave trade, with Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister saying he is open to a formal state… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}