King Charles III called the transatlantic slave trade \u201ca monstrous injustice\u201d Tuesday, opening a Commonwealth summit in which UK leader Andy Burnham is holding talks about apologising for Britain\u2019s role in slavery.\n<\/p>\n
Britain\u2019s head of state told the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda that slavery \u201cstill casts a shadow over these islands and other members\u201d of the 56-nation group of mostly former British colonies.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I have said before, that shameful chapter of history is one that fills my heart with horror and my soul with the most profound personal sorrow,\u201d said the king, who is the ceremonial head of the Commonwealth.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd yet history also teaches us that evil need not have the last word; that character and courage can combine to overcome the most monstrous injustice, as they did with the determination to end international trade in enslaved people, in which the Royal Navy played such a leading role.\u201d<\/p>\n
The comments come as Burnham uses his appearance at the summit to hold discussions with Commonwealth leaders about issuing a formal apology for Britain\u2019s role in slavery, which saw about 10-15 million slaves brought from Africa to the Americas over four centuries.\n<\/p>\n
\u2013 Reparations \u2013\n<\/p>\n
Burnham, in office since July, said at the weekend that he was open to saying sorry but ruled out paying the financial reparations demanded by some Caribbean countries.<\/p>\n
Britain\u2019s pivotal part in slavery has long strained relations between the UK and its former colonies, including an awkward previous meeting of Commonwealth leaders in 2024.<\/p>\n
The UK royal family benefited from the trade but Charles, who is also head of state in 14 Commonwealth countries, including several in the Caribbean, is politically neutral and is not expected to offer an apology.\n<\/p>\n
A palace spokesperson also said \u201cit would not be appropriate\u201d for the king to announce a change in government policy.\n<\/p>\n
Burnham discussed slavery with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley during a meeting on Monday, one of several bilateral chats the prime minister is expected to have at the summit.\n<\/p>\n
They discussed how Britain \u201cwas offering a structured dialogue for communities impacted by the transatlantic slave trade\u201d, including the \u201cnext steps\u201d, Downing Street said.\n<\/p>\n
Burnham wrote in the Guardian on Saturday that he would have \u201cdifficult conversations\u201d\u00a0to safeguard the Commonwealth\u2019s future.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cListening 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,\u201d Burnham wrote.<\/p>\n
He insisted, however, that reparations were \u201cnot the right answer\u201d, saying British people today should not be \u201cheld liable for historical wrongs, however heinous\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2018Debt reset\u2019 \u2013\n<\/p>\n
Instead, London is pursuing a \u201cdebt reset\u201d plan for the poorest Commonwealth countries, led by former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown and which could alter interest rates on repayments.\n<\/p>\n
Speaking Tuesday, Burnham told reporters: \u201cI\u2019ve been very clear that we do not support reparations\u2026 but it\u2019s not the case that we don\u2019t support countries in the Commonwealth around development helping them with debt issues that they\u2019ve got\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
The UK will allocate \u00a340 million ($54 million) over three years for infrastructure improvements in the Caribbean, including renewable energy.\n<\/p>\n
The issue of slavery has loomed large over 77-year-old Charles\u2019s ongoing nine-day visit to three Caribbean countries.\n<\/p>\n
When the king arrived in the Bahamas last week, small groups of protesters waved placards reading: \u201cPay what you owe us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Britain has never formally apologised for slavery or agreed to pay reparations.\n<\/p>\n
The BBC reported Tuesday that Britain was likely to apologise during its G20 presidency next year.\n<\/p>\n
The country profited for centuries from colonialism and\u00a0slavery, but argues it also led the way in the latter\u2019s abolition.\n<\/p>\n
In 1833, the UK parliament passed a law to abolish slavery in most of the British Empire.\n<\/p>\n
Opposition Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said Britain should not apologise, arguing it would boost countries\u2019 claims for financial compensation.\n<\/p>\n
At the previous Commonwealth meeting in Samoa in 2024, 56 nations signed a communique backing talks over reparatory justice after then-prime minister Keir Starmer tried to avoid the issue of slavery.\n<\/p>\n
AFP<\/p>\n
Source: <\/p>\n
King Charles III called the transatlantic slave trade \u201ca monstrous injustice\u201d Tuesday, opening a Commonwealth summit in which UK leader Andy Burnham is holding talks about apologising for Britain\u2019s role… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8227","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=8227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8227\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}