After meeting King Charles and Queen Camilla at church on Sunday morning, the Antiguan Prime Minister has called for the UK to pay reparations for its role in the slave trade. Gaston Browne was responding to UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s comments that he would be open to offering an apology, but firmly ruled out financial reparations. Mr Browne told ITV News: “I understand the politics in the UK in which it may be a difficult proposition for him to agree to any form of reparations but that does not negate the need for reparations.
“If there’s no compensation there is likely to be a repeat of those atrocities sometime in the future and you can see what is happening globally already.” He added: “There has to be some acknowledgement of the wrong and to recognise, too, that there has to be some form of restitution.”
His comments come after Mr Burnham said that he would be open to offering an apology and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch criticised the Labour leader, saying it’s time to move on from slavery and stop apologising. Speaking to Sky News, Ms Badenoch said she worried that the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) summit taking place in Antigua and Bermuda, is “yet another opportunity for people to start asking Britain for money because of the slave trade”.
“We need to start looking at how we can bring the Commonwealth together — start looking forwards, not backwards,” she argued. “I don’t think we should be giving any money to compensate people for the slave trade, and I don’t think that Andy Burnham needs to be apologising because it is a lever to wedge open the door to ask for cash.”
Asked about Ms Badenoch’s position on the issue, Mr Browne said: “I think she is misguided and no wonder she is leader of the opposition and not the Prime Minister […] We do not share her sentiments. Some of the most heinous crimes ever committed against humanity.
“And they don’t see the need for an apology and for restitution?” The Antiguan PM’s comments come on the eve of Mr Burnham’s arrival for CHOGM, where King Charles will deliver an opening address.
It sets the backdrop for a difficult summit, where the monarch will speak about the issue of slavery with “unflinching honesty” and “sincere sorrow” but is not expected to offer an apology. Caribbean nations have been calling for reparations from Britain for their role in the slave trade for decades. No formal apology or offer to pay reparations has ever been made.
Mr Burnham, writing in the Guardian, said: “We are offering a structured dialogue with those affected by the transatlantic slave trade. Listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state will form an important part of this process and I am open to them.”
The Prime Minister expressed his “sorrow and regret for the pain and suffering of so many millions” but, in keeping with the policy of his predecessors, ruled out considering reparations. “I do not think that British people today can be held liable for historical wrongs, however heinous, that happened in a different age under different laws and in which they played no personal part,” Mr Burnham wrote, adding that he would instead seek to launch a drive on debt-servicing to help countries repay over a longer time period with better rates.
