'This is how Chagos started': Reform's Suella Braverman warns Burnham that a slavery apology could bind Britain to paying reparations
From the Newshound archive · first published 1 November 2026.
Andy Burnham proposed a "structured dialogue" with affected countries on any formal apology, while firmly ruling out financial reparations ahead of the Commonwealth summit.King Charles III and Queen Camilla, whose constitutional role bars the King from referencing Andy Burnham's policy shift on a formal apology in his CHOGM address.
Kemi Badenoch fired back at Andy Burnham on Sunday, declaring the British Empire was "overall a force for good" and insisting Britain has "had enough of apologising." Burnham blindsided the King's own travel party — officials had assured journalists as late as Thursday that the government's position was "absolutely no apology" — by writing in the Guardian that he was "open" to a formal state apology for the slave trade ahead of next week's Commonwealth summit in Antigua.
Barbados PM Mia Mottley immediately seized on Burnham's words, treating them as an open door to reparations demands worth billions.
Badenoch challenged Caribbean nations to also seek apologies from descendants of African kingdoms and merchants who participated in the slave trade.
Jamaican reparations campaigner Bert Samuels accused the King of "walking in a crime scene" on his Caribbean tour, warning cheering crowds should not be expected.
