LONDON — British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that he is open to a formal apology for his country’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, but ruled out financial reparations as King Charles III continued his tour of the Caribbean.
Burnham’s comments show a marked shift in stance for the U.K., which has consistently rejected demands for either an apology or reparations.
They came as he is due to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda next week. Charles, as head of the “family of nations,” will preside over the event.
“We are offering a structured dialogue with those affected by the transatlantic slave trade,” Burnham wrote in an op-ed in The Guardian newspaper in an article published Friday. “Listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state will form an important part of this process, and I am open to them.”
But Burnham ruled out financial reparations, saying the British people of today who “played no personal part” in the slave trade could not be held liable.
The transatlantic trade in enslaved people was central to European colonialism and the growth of the British Empire, as millions of Africans were trafficked to the Americas to grow and harvest cash crops, while being subjected to violence, torture, sexual abuse and the denial of basic human rights.
Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, said on X that he welcomed the prime minister’s openness to a formal apology.
Jamaica’s prime minister, Andrew Holness, also took to X where he wrote: “Open-minded dialogue is always a good place to start addressing difficult issues.”
Jamaica recently took its case for reparations to Charles, and the case has since been referred to the United Kingdom’s highest court of appeal.
Caribbean nations had urged British to acknowledge its role in the salve trade ahead of Charles’ visit to the Bahamas and Guyana last week.
Charles visited Clifford Park last week where in 1973 he granted The Bahamas independence after 300 years of British rule.
Members of The Bahamas’ Rastafarian community and others lined a nearby road to protest.
“Pay us what you owe us!” one woman cried out. “I stand in memory of the horrors and the atrocities committed against Black people.”
In his first public remarks on the island nation, Charles said: “It is only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of the past in these islands and beyond, even as we rejoice in the successes of the present.”
