SAMAO  –  The government has said there will not be an apology over Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade when King Charles and Sir Keir Starmer visit the Commonwealth summit in Samoa next week.

A Downing Street spokesperson had already ruled out financial reparations.

Last year, the King spoke of his “greatest sorrow and regret” at the “wrongdoings” of the colonial era on a visit to Kenya, but stopped short of an apology, which would have depended on the agreement of ministers.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, to be held in Samoa on 25 and 26 October, will bring together the leaders of 56 countries.

But even if the issue of historic links to slavery is raised at the summit, the UK government has told the BBC there are no plans for a symbolic apology.

Instead the focus will be on current issues, a government spokesperson said, such as “shared challenges and opportunities faced by the Commonwealth, including driving growth across our economies”.

Speeches from monarchs are made on the advice of ministers. This means the King would be unable to make an apology over the UK’s links to slavery unless he had the approval of the government.

Labour MPs including Bell Ribeiro-Addy had called for the UK government to officially apologise for its participation in the slave trade.

David Lammy, as an MP on the opposition benches in 2018, had said: “As Caribbean people we are not going to forget our history. We don’t just want to hear an apology, we want reparations.”

But with Labour now in power, Downing Street has ruled out an apology over slavery and ended speculation of any statement at the Commonwealth meeting in Samoa, which would have been the first international platform for such an apology to take place.

It means that the policy of not apologising continues from the previous government, when prime minister Rishi Sunak last year rejected the idea and said “trying to unpick our history is not the right way forward”.

Opponents of an apology have pointed to Britain’s prominent role in ending slavery, including legislation in 1807 to abolish the slave trade.

Discussions of formal apologies or reparations could still be raised by other countries, with Caribbean leaders having argued for some financial recognition of the legacy of slavery, with figures of £200bn being quoted. (BBC)

Photo: King Charles. (PA)