Miliband insists the slavery apology won't cost taxpayers a 'penny more' while Burnham prepares to hand Caribbean nations £40m
King Charles III, whose remarks drew no commitment to reparations, with Buckingham Palace insisting he would not be responsible for delivering any apology.King Charles III and Queen Camilla host Commonwealth Heads of State and their partners at an official dinner in Antigua and Barbuda, as Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband ruled out reparations entirely, insisting the government's structured dialogue would conclude within a year.The Queen enjoying a steel pan band performance, as Ed Miliband insisted a £40 million green energy package for Caribbean Commonwealth nations was entirely unrelated to any slavery apology process.Tables set for an official Commonwealth Heads of Government dinner in Antigua; Andy Burnham announced a £40 million green energy package for Caribbean nations at the summit, though Ed Miliband insisted it was unrelated to any apology process.
Ed Miliband contradicted his own Prime Minister on Wednesday by guaranteeing British taxpayers would not pay "a penny more" over the government's new Commonwealth approach — a pledge Andy Burnham conspicuously refused to make when asked the same question on Monday. Miliband also confirmed a formal slavery apology is likely to be ready by next November's G20 summit in Manchester, saying "broadly speaking, yes" when pressed on the timeline.
Burnham, attending CHOGM in Antigua, is set to pledge £40m in economic development funds for Caribbean nations as part of the "structured dialogue" on slavery.
Miliband attacked Tony Blair for a "sorry, not sorry" approach in 2006, accusing No 10 of having "walked back" Blair's expression of "deep sorrow and regret" at the time.
King Charles, in a pointedly different tone, told Commonwealth leaders Britain "cannot change the past" and reminded them the Royal Navy led the global effort to end the transatlantic slave trade.
