British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced that the government is prepared to consider a formal apology for Britain’s historical role in the slave trade, but will not accept financial compensation.
Burnham wrote in an op-ed in the Guardian that the government is facilitating a dialogue with victims of the transatlantic slave trade, in which at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped and sold into slavery.
The position comes ahead of a Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Antigua and Barbuda, where Caribbean leaders will call for reparations for historical losses through amnesty, loans, investment in education and health, and development financing.
According to statistics, Britain alone transported about 3.2 million Africans during the Atlantic slave trade. The British Prime Minister has rejected compensation and said that the current generation of the country cannot be held responsible for historical crimes.
Meanwhile, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Brown welcomed Britain’s offers of practical assistance but stressed that the Caribbean nation’s position on restorative justice had not changed.
