Burnham Opens Talks on a Slavery Apology as CHOGM Begins in Antigua

Andy Burnham will use the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua to start a structured dialogue on whether Britain should make a formal apology for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, and on what words would endure. Downing Street says the countries and communities most affected should shape that message. It also says the dialogue is not a decision already taken in London and announced afterwards.

The summit of 56 member states begins in earnest on Tuesday in St John's. Burnham arrived on Monday evening. His programme already includes a meeting with Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, at which the two leaders discussed next steps on the dialogue. A Downing Street readout said Burnham thanked Mottley for her ongoing support. The King, who presides as head of the Commonwealth, spent Monday with leaders on a ship promoting lower-carbon shipping.

What Downing Street is offering

The offer has three parts, and only one of them is about language. The first is the dialogue itself. A spokesperson said Burnham, like his predecessors, had expressed sorrow and regret for the pain and suffering caused by the trade, and had recognised the way it still shapes the world. That sorrow, the spokesperson said, is distinct from a formal apology. "An apology of this significance should be informed by the people and countries most affected."

The second part is money that is not described as compensation. Britain will allocate 40 million pounds over three years, from existing budgets, to speed infrastructure in the Caribbean, including green energy. The third is what No 10 calls a debt reset: longer repayment periods and better interest rates for poorer Commonwealth countries facing higher debt costs. Two taskforces, one on critical minerals and supply chains, one on trade and investment, are due to be set up by the end of the year and to report at the next leaders' summit.

What is still ruled out

Direct reparations remain off the table. That is the line Burnham shares with the governments before him, and it is the line John Healey drew on Sunday, when he said people in Britain now should not carry a financial liability for events of centuries ago. Acknowledging what Downing Street calls the horror of the slave trade is not, in this formulation, the same as accepting a present-day cash liability.

The distinction is the whole argument of the week. After the 2024 summit, London insisted compensation was not on the agenda, and all 56 nations then signed a communique that kept talks on reparatory justice alive. Burnham is calling his version a new approach. Opponents say that by being open to talks about a formal apology he has put the King under pressure. He denies that. The test in St John's is whether an apology process, plus debt terms and a modest infrastructure fund, is enough to stop the meeting becoming another row about payment.

The King, and the line the Palace is drawing

Charles will open the meeting and is expected to speak about the slave trade with sincere sorrow. Buckingham Palace says his role is inspiring and convening, rather than policy making. He is not expected to offer an apology, and he is not expected to refer to the change in the government's position. The discussions among leaders are being held, unusually, without aides in the room. The Palace set that boundary before the King left the Bahamas.

Gaston Browne, the host prime minister, has called for reparations and has said he wants Antigua to be a gateway for trade into the Caribbean. Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, said on Monday that he wanted respectful discussions between Britain and the countries directly involved, and that Australia was not a direct participant. He and Browne have both spoken in the past about their own countries becoming republics. That is a separate argument from the apology, but it sits in the same room.

What London does while Antigua talks

The Commons is not waiting on the Caribbean. Treasury questions are at 11.30am, and the Budget debate is due to finish today. A YouGov poll out this morning calls Healey's first Budget the fairest in five years, and finds most people expect it to change little at home. The Treasury Committee hears economists at 9.45am. For Burnham, the domestic verdict and the Commonwealth dialogue are the same political week: a careful first Budget at home, and a careful first word abroad.

On Saturday he said Britain must face up to the past over what he called the brutal and barbaric violation of the slave trade, and that he was open to a formal apology. Tuesday is when that sentence meets the people he says must help to write the next one. If they help to write it, London will still have to decide whether to say it. If they will not, the new approach will look like the old one with a longer timetable.