Burnham offers Commonwealth ‘debt reset’ as slavery apology talks begin
Andy Burnham will join the King at the opening of the Commonwealth summit in Antigua and begin talks on a formal UK apology for the slave trade within the next year. Downing Street said he would set out a “debt reset” for members burdened by interest costs. “Britain is bringing a new approach to this meeting,” the prime minister said.
Reparations have dominated the run-up to the meeting of 56 nations; Sir Keir Starmer had said before the Samoa summit two years ago that they were not on the agenda. Mr Burnham met Barbados’s Mia Mottley, a leading reparations advocate, on Monday. The trip has drawn domestic criticism: No 10 defended routing the government Airbus via Manchester to collect the prime minister, citing security, cost and “operational requirements”. The Conservatives questioned the value for money.