UK to hold talks on harms of slave trade

Commonwealth leaders have welcomed Britain’s agreement to engage in “time-bound inclusive and good-faith dialogue” over the “historical harms” of the transatlantic slave trade. In a final communique issued late on Wednesday, the group of nations said the time had come for “meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity”.

But it did not set out a timetable for the talks. It comes after British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he was open to saying sorry but ruled out paying financial reparations demanded by some Caribbean countries. Burnham used his appearance at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda to hold discussions about issuing a formal apology for Britain’s role in slavery, which saw about 10-15 million slaves brought from Africa to the Americas over four centuries.

In a speech to opening the biannual Commonwealth leaders meeting on Tuesday, King Charles III, who is politically neutral, called the slave trade “a monstrous injustice” that filled him with “profound personal sorrow”, stopping short of a formal apology. Britain’s pivotal part in slavery has long strained relations between the UK and its former colonies, including an awkward previous meeting of Commonwealth leaders in 2024.

“We welcome the agreement of the government of the United Kingdom to engage in a structured, time-bound, inclusive and good-faith dialogue with affected parties addressing the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans and its historical harms,” the final communique said. The Commonwealth is a 56-nation group of mostly former British colonies. Of those Charles remains head of state in 14.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has said it is “not feasible” for the country to pay reparations for slavery, but that “there are things we can work on co-operatively”. Miliband also hinted that Britain could issue a formal apology next year when it hosts a G20 leaders’ summit, in comments to the BBC aired on Wednesday as the meeting wrapped up.