'Fills my heart with horror': King stops short of a slavery apology in Antigua despite Burnham's offer of talks
King Charles III, whose remarks drew no commitment to reparations, with Buckingham Palace insisting he would not be responsible for delivering any apology.Andy Burnham fell while playing cricket at the Commonwealth summit in Antigua, where he has ruled out reparations but launched structured talks on a formal slavery apology.King Charles III at Nelson's Dockyard, Antigua and Barbuda, where he learned about efforts to protect the islands' natural and built heritage, as Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined efforts to build towards a formal slavery apology.Andy Burnham, Prime Minister, met King Charles at the Commonwealth Business Forum at the Sticky Wicket, as former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby branded the £40m taxpayer-funded allocation for Caribbean green energy and infrastructure a 'moral evil'.On board HMS Wellington, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Britain should "stop apologising" for its role in the slave trade, as Burnham warned a formal UK apology is now expected next year when Britain holds the G20 presidency.Queen Camilla met women advocating for others across the Commonwealth, including survivors of abuse, as Andy Burnham separately opened formal slavery apology talks at the Antigua summit.
King Charles told Commonwealth leaders in Antigua that the transatlantic slave trade "still casts a shadow" over the Caribbean but refused to issue a formal apology, declaring "we cannot change the actions of those who came before us." He praised the Royal Navy's "leading role" in ending the slave trade and vowed to work in "modern partnership to address the wrongs of the past with action for the future." Prime Minister Andy Burnham had already signalled he was open to an apology and proposed £40m in Caribbean aid plus a debt-restructuring programme, but ruled out direct reparations payments.
Protesters gathered outside the Antigua summit holding signs reading 'Acknowledge the wrong — commit to repair' and 'You say you regret so apologise.'
Burnham's offer of talks on an apology was itself criticised by opponents who accused him of putting the King under political pressure.
