Caricom welcomes UK openness to slavery apology but insists reparations must stay on the table
The Caribbean Community has welcomed British Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s openness to a formal apology for slavery, but has rejected his ruling-out of financial reparations, saying a dialogue that excludes reparations from the start cannot be complete.
The Caribbean Community (Caricom) has welcomed British Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s openness to a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, while firmly rejecting his position that financial reparations are not the answer, in a statement issued on Saturday ahead of the Commonwealth leaders’ summit opening in Antigua and Barbuda on Sunday.
In the statement, Caricom Chair and Saint Lucia Prime Minister Philip J Pierre said the Community was ready to engage with the United Kingdom, but that reparatory justice must remain central to any discussions. Burnham, who is due to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda from 1 to 4 November, had written in The Guardian that he was “open” to listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of Britain, while ruling out financial reparations.
Burnham’s article, published on Saturday, said Britain should face up to the past and offered what he called a “structured dialogue” with those affected by the slave trade. “I want to express my sorrow and regret for the pain and suffering of so many millions and to recognise the way it still shapes our world today,” he wrote, adding: “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.”
But the prime minister drew a clear line at compensation. “I do not believe that is the right answer,” he wrote of reparations, arguing: “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.” He also announced a new debt restructuring drive for the poorest Commonwealth countries, to be led by former prime minister Gordon Brown, aimed at helping them repay over a longer period and at better rates.
Caricom directly challenged that reasoning. “Reparatory justice has never been about individual guilt. It is about the responsibility of states and institutions — and that responsibility does not expire with the passing of generations,” Pierre said in the statement, reported by the Caribbean Media Corporation. The Community said it did not accept the argument that Britain’s responsibility had ended because present-day citizens had not personally taken part in slavery.
The statement went further, warning that the shape of the proposed dialogue matters as much as its existence. “A dialogue that begins by placing reparations outside the room cannot be a complete dialogue,” Caricom said, insisting that every element of its long-standing Ten-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice must be open for discussion. That plan includes a formal apology, public health, education and training, cultural heritage restitution and reconnection, psychological rehabilitation, technology and innovation, entrepreneurship, debt cancellation, monetary compensation and decolonisation.
Caricom also said the proposed dialogue must allow discussion of reparations for the genocide of Indigenous Peoples and for the harm caused to people brought from India and China to sustain colonial systems — widening the issue beyond the transatlantic slave trade alone. The breadth of that agenda underlines how far apart the two sides remain on what a settlement should cover, even as they agree that a conversation should take place.
The disagreement is playing out against a stark historical record. At least 12.5 million Africans were abducted and transported across the Atlantic between the 15th and 19th centuries, according to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, with Britain transporting an estimated 3.2 million people. Britain has never formally apologised for slavery or agreed to pay reparations, and Caribbean leaders have for years framed their demands in terms of debt relief, development finance, education, healthcare and climate resilience as well as direct compensation.
Reactions from individual Caribbean leaders reflected the same mix of welcome and firmness. Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne welcomed Burnham’s comments and his proposals for practical assistance, while adding that “the Caribbean’s longstanding position on reparatory justice remains unchanged.” King Charles III, who is touring the region, is due to address the Commonwealth summit, where reparations are expected to feature prominently in discussions between Britain and Caribbean and African leaders.
What happens next will therefore be tested at the summit itself. Burnham arrives offering dialogue and debt relief but not reparations; Caricom arrives willing to talk but unwilling to accept reparations being ruled out before talks begin. Whether the summit produces a joint statement, a timetable for the structured dialogue, or simply an agreement to keep talking will show whether the prime minister’s openness to an apology marks a genuine opening — or the start of another round of the same long-running disagreement.
