Kemi Badenoch hits out at Andy Burnham's openness to a formal slavery apology as a 'navel-gazing distraction'
Andy Burnham proposed a "structured dialogue" with affected countries on any formal apology, while firmly ruling out financial reparations ahead of the Commonwealth summit.Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade prompted Andy Burnham to declare himself open to a formal state apology — a position no previous prime minister had taken.King Charles was welcomed to Guyana by President Mohamed Irfaan Ali ahead of a State Reception marking 60 years of UK-Guyana relations, with pop star Eddy Grant and Foreign Secretary David Lammy among the guests at the…King Charles, whose visit to the region precedes next week's Commonwealth summit, faces protests in St John's where campaigners have vowed the reparations issue will not be dodged.
Badenoch savaged Burnham's Guardian article as a political stunt, arguing Tony Blair's 2006 expression of "deep sorrow and regret" already settled the question and no repeat was needed. She challenged Caribbean nations to ask the same of African kingdoms whose rulers captured and sold enslaved people. Burnham, writing ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda, ruled out financial reparations but said he was open to a formal state apology as part of a "structured dialogue."
In place of direct reparations payments, Burnham proposed relief on debt, support for renewable energy, and measures to tackle poverty.
King Charles, already on a Caribbean tour, has told a youth rally in the Bahamas it was 'only right' to acknowledge 'the great suffering and injustices of the past.'
Protesters in Antigua have put up billboards, placards and held a candlelight vigil demanding reparatory justice as leaders arrived for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
