'Navel-gazing distraction': Badenoch hits out at Burnham's openness to a formal UK slavery apology ahead of the Commonwealth summit
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.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham wrote in the Guardian on Saturday that he is "open" to calls for a formal British state apology for the transatlantic slave trade, ahead of next week's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda. He ruled out financial reparations, arguing British people today "played no personal part" in historical wrongs, and instead offered debt restructuring, renewable energy support and poverty alleviation. Badenoch fired back within hours, calling the move a "navel-gazing distraction" and demanding to know whether Caribbean nations would also seek apologies from descendants of African kingdoms that captured and sold enslaved people.
Burnham pointed to Blair's 2006 "deep sorrow and regret" statement, but Badenoch said that was sufficient and no repeat was needed.
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne welcomed Burnham's debt-relief proposals but said the Caribbean's position on reparations remained unchanged.
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy told the BBC a formal apology would 'cost nothing' and help lift the 'stench of Empire' hanging over King Charles's Caribbean tour.
