British Prime Minister Andy Burnham wrote in The Guardian that Britain would reject financial reparations for its role in the transatlantic slave trade while proposing dialogue and debt relief before next week's Commonwealth summit.
Burnham said proposed talks would bring together representatives of affected countries and campaign groups, with consideration of requests for a formal apology by the British state. He expressed regret for the trade’s human toll and said its legacy continues to shape the present.
He argued that British people today could not be held liable for historical wrongs committed under different laws in which they had no personal part. Burnham also said Commonwealth members affected by slavery had sought an honest discussion of its legacy, and that avoiding the issue had weakened the organization’s ability to function.
The debt proposal would aim to let the poorest Commonwealth countries repay over longer periods and at better rates, Burnham wrote, with international organizations expected to be involved. The Guardian separately reported that former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown would lead the effort. Burnham’s article said he, the chancellor and foreign secretary had asked Brown to help with the work.
Burnham said those countries face their toughest debt-service burden in more than 25 years. Figures he cited show interest costs surpass health spending in more than 40% of the countries covered. He also pointed to Britain’s abolition campaign, naming reformer Thomas Clarkson and Manchester workers who refused to process cotton harvested by enslaved people during the U.S. Civil War.
EconoTimes has previously reported on campaigners’ calls for a full apology during King Charles III’s Caribbean tour.
The Guardian reported that the Commonwealth heads of government meeting is scheduled for the Caribbean next week. Burnham is due to attend, and the newspaper said Brown would join him.
