![\"Ankle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2022-11-01T120949Z_215698189_MT1RTRFODK9EZH1PUSP1V35YU9468VW93P0_RTRWEFP_4_GHANA-CLIMATE-CHANGE-SLAV.jpeg\")
Ankle shackles used in the transatlantic slave trade remain at Fort Prinzenstein in Keta, Ghana, August 8, 2022 [Nita Bhalla\/Thomson Reuters Foundation]What was Britain\u2019s role in slavery?<\/p>\nThe United Kingdom\u2019s Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said his country is open to apologising for Britain\u2019s role in the transatlantic slave trade but ruled out reparations, which campaigners have for years called for.<\/p>\n
Burnham wrote in an opinion article in The Guardian on Friday that Britain would also work on debt restructuring for the poorest countries, marking an historic turn in London\u2019s stance.<\/p>\n
Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n
The move comes ahead of a four-day summit starting Sunday of the 50-plus Commonwealth nations formerly colonised by Britain. The UK\u2019s King Charles, who arrived in the Caribbean last week, is hosting the leaders in St John\u2019s, the capital of Antigua and Barbuda.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to express my sorrow and regret for the pain and suffering of so many millions of people, and to recognise the way it still shapes our world today,\u201d Burnham wrote, in what amounted to a personal apology.<\/p>\n
Caribbean nations that have more forcefully demanded reparations in recent years said they expect more from Britain, while opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has criticised Burnham\u2019s move as \u201cnavel-gazing\u201d.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what we know:<\/p>\n
Ankle shackles used in the transatlantic slave trade remain at Fort Prinzenstein in Keta, Ghana, August 8, 2022 [Nita Bhalla\/Thomson Reuters Foundation]What was Britain\u2019s role in slavery?<\/p>\n
Transatlantic slavery lasted between the 16th and 19th centuries and saw some 12 million enslaved Africans torn from their homes and forcibly transported on ships to the Americas with the help of local warlords. Enslaved people were sold on plantations and as domestic workers, and their labour produced goods that built wealth in Europe.<\/p>\n
Britain and Portugal accounted for about 70 percent of all Africans exported to the Americas, while France, Spain and the Netherlands also traded in significant numbers of enslaved people. Britain alone transported 3.1 million Africans to British colonies in the Caribbean, the Americas and other countries, according to its national archives. Only 2.7 million arrived, as many perished in treacherous sea journeys.<\/p>\n
British abolitionists began campaigning against slavery in 1787, particularly in cities like Manchester. In 1807, Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act, essentially banning new enslavement. More than three decades later, in 1834, Britain banned slavery in its entirety, although the practice continued for several years.<\/p>\n
Amid calls for accountability in 2006, then-Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed \u201cdeep sorrow\u201d for Britain\u2019s role in the slave trade, but fell short of apologising or speaking about reparations.<\/p>\n
Why now?<\/p>\n
Burnham\u2019s apology came during Britain\u2019s Black History Month and as the Commonwealth is meeting in Antigua and Barbuda.<\/p>\n
In his article, the British prime minister said London wants to keep diplomatic and trade ties with its Commonwealth allies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn an increasingly divided and dangerous world, our family of nations in the Commonwealth is vital to our interests,\u201d he wrote, adding that Britain \u201ccan seize opportunities for trade and economic collaboration\u201d.<\/p>\n
Britain will allow the most vulnerable countries to repay their debts over a longer period, he added, with former Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, who spearheaded the UK\u2019s 1991 initiative to reduce debt for poorer countries, leading the charge.<\/p>\n
![\"Britain\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/AP26302778632118-1793535663.jpg\")
Britain\u2019s King Charles III inspects the guard of honour on his arrival at Cheddi Jagan International Airport in Georgetown, Guyana, Thursday, October 29, 2026 [Delano Williams\/AP]What is the debate regarding apologies and reparations?<\/p>\n
Since 2013, the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) has called on Western countries involved to acknowledge their role and institute monetary reparations for slavery.<\/p>\n
In recent years, those calls have grown louder, led by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley.<\/p>\n
Ghana, where around 10-15 percent of enslaved people were transferred from, has also played a major role and pushed a historic resolution at the United Nations in March that saw 123 countries vote to declare trafficking of enslaved Africans the gravest crime against humanity. All European nations abstained while the United States, Israel and Argentina voted against the measure.<\/p>\n
Campaigners argue that there is a legal and moral case for financial payment and debt cancellations for the centuries of damage caused by enslavement. Those damages, they say, are evident in the structural inequalities that continue to plague countries where human capital was stolen from and those in the Caribbean that faced genocides after Europeans arrived.<\/p>\n
They also point to the loss of lives, the erasure of cultures, the looting of artefacts in the colonial era that followed, and ongoing economic disparities and development challenges that see those nations struggle to access international financial institutions.<\/p>\n