But, in keeping with previous governments, he rejected calls for financial compensation.
asserted
he → keep → compensation
Some Caribbean nations have made renewed calls for Britain to apologise for its role in selling enslaved people for profit, and for reparations, before the King’s tour of the region.
asserted
Britain → make → region
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley led a group of Caribbean leaders who launched a new slavery reparations manifesto during a conference in Ghana in June.
asserted
who → lead → June
Mrs Badenoch on Sunday argued an apology would give countries a reason to ask Britain for money.
asserted
apology → argue → money
Asked what she believed would be the problem with the UK saying sorry, the Opposition leader told Sky News: “It’s because of what will happen next.
asserted
what → ask → News
“What I’m worried about is that this Chogm summit is yet another opportunity for people to start asking Britain for money because of the slave trade.”
asserted
people → ’m → trade
She added: “We need to start looking at how we can bring the Commonwealth together – start looking forwards, not backwards.
asserted
we → add → Commonwealth
“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.”
asserted
it → think → cash
Mr Healey said Mr Burnham felt considering an apology was the “right thing”.
asserted
considering → say → apology
He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “The Prime Minister has said, look, we are open to a discussion about an apology.
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“He feels that that’s the right thing, particularly ahead of the Commonwealth leaders’ conference.
“
asserted
that → tell → conference
But he doesn’t believe that reparations are the right approach, and considering a formal apology doesn’t mean accepting that British people now should accept the financial liability for any part in things that happened hundreds of years ago, in which they had no role.”
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds was asked whether reparations should logically follow an apology.
She
asserted
reparations → believe → apology
told Sky News’s Sunday Morning: “I don’t agree with that.
asserted
I → tell → that
“I think the symbolism … of issuing a formal apology is powerful.
asserted
symbolism → think → apology
“It is something that people in the region are talking about and have asked for, but as the Government has made clear, that will not involve financial reparations because the British people of today didn’t have a role in the slave trade hundreds of years ago and in fact, there were brave men and women in this country who led the campaign for the abolition of slavery, which is something that should be recognised too.
asserted
that → talk → slavery
Opposition to payments also came from the Liberal Democrats, whose leader Sir Ed Davey told the same programme: “I don’t think reparations is the right approach.”
asserted
reparations → come → programme
He said the UK had been supporting poorer countries over many years “and I think that’s the right thing to do”.
asserted
that → say → years
The King’s opening address at the Chogm summit in Antigua and Barbuda on Tuesday will receive heightened interest after the Prime Minister’s intervention.
asserted
address → receive → intervention
But Charles, who as head of state is above party politics, is not expected to offer an apology or reference the change in Government policy.
asserted
who → expect → policy
Mr Burnham, writing in the Guardian, said: “We are offering a structured dialogue with those affected by the transatlantic slave trade.
asserted
We → write → 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.”
asserted
I → listen → them
The Prime Minister expressed “my 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.
asserted
Minister → express → 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.
asserted
countries → think → rates
The Aporia
