Minister says UK apology over historic role in slave trade won’t lead to financial reparations – UK politics live
Ahead of a meeting with Commonwealth leaders, Andy Burnham wrote that Britain needed to ‘acknowledge its complicated history’Andy Burnham says the UK will listen to calls to issue a formal...
By Frances Mao · The Guardian World
Ahead of a meeting with Commonwealth leaders, Andy Burnham wrote that Britain needed to ‘acknowledge its complicated history’ Andy Burnham says the UK will listen to calls to issue a formal apology, but doesn’t believe that reparations is the “right answer”. He argued yesterday in The Guardian that Britain needs to acknowledge its “complicated history” in order to protect the Commonwealth, the 56 nations that grew out of the British Empire. He’s headed to Antigua and Babuda in coming days. King Charles has been in the Caribbean this week where he’s faced calls for Britain to apologise and pay reparations. The Britain I believe in is confident, decent and brave. We led the world in abolishing slavery – and we can show leadership again today. For years, those members of the Commonwealth affected by the slave trade have asked for an honest conversation about the legacies of slavery. 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. Let me be very clear that will not involve financial reparations, because the British people today shouldn’t be held liable for historic wrongs, wrongs that they had no part in. Continue reading...