UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has expressed openness to a formal apology for the country's role in the transatlantic slave trade. The British government has never formally apologized for slavery, despite repeated calls from Commonwealth leaders. Prime Minister Andy Burnham is open to the possibility of the UK formally apologizing for its role in the transatlantic slave trade.
Burnham believes Britain must face up to its past, but he has also ruled out financial reparations, which some had hoped would accompany an apology. The consideration of a formal apology comes ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, scheduled to start on November 1 in Antigua, which will be opened by King Charles III.
The premier’s comments represent a major change in British policy, but they are unlikely to satisfy those who hoped that reparations would follow. The prime minister says Britain must face up to the past for its role in the transatlantic slave trade but reparations are not the right answer.
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