Photo: Wiki/House of Commons
By Face2Face Africa
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged £40m ($53m) in aid funding for the Caribbean amid calls for Britain to pay reparations for its role in the transatlantic slave trade.
The funding will be given over three years to accelerate critical infrastructure investment in the Caribbean, including renewable energy, according to Downing Street.
Burnham also looks to begin discussions with leaders about a potential formal apology from the UK concerning its involvement in the slave trade.
The UK leader will be speaking at the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit in Antigua on Tuesday and is expected to lay out plans for a “debt reset” that will eventually help the poorest Commonwealth countries deal with repayments.
According to Downing Street, Burnham would use the summit to “outline his vision for supporting countries grappling with higher debt costs”.
Britain will play its “full part” in shaping the Commonwealth as a “powerful force for good” in a more divided and unpredictable world, said Burnham, as he arrived in Antigua and Barbuda on Monday, the Independent reported.
“In today’s more divided, unpredictable world, the Commonwealth has the potential to be a powerful force for good, bringing together a third of the global population, and I believe it is key that the UK plays its full role in that.
“Britain is bringing a new approach to this meeting, as we look to reshape a new era for the Commonwealth, as well as being open to discussions about the past,” the UK leader said.
Burnham indicated recently that he was open to the UK making a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade. But he was quick to add that the taxpayer should not bear financial liability for a practice they played no part in.
King Charles arrived in the Caribbean nation on Friday ahead of his Tuesday summit opening address, where he is expected to speak about global challenges and slavery with “unflinching honesty” and “sincere sorrow”, though a formal apology is not anticipated, Sky News reported.
Before his trip, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said that King Charles’s visit to the Caribbean “comes at an important time in the history of the relationship between the United Kingdom and the countries of the Caribbean in particular. There are important discussions taking place in various fora about colonial legacy and the intergenerational impact of the transatlantic trade in enslaved persons. While these are primarily matters for Governments to address, His Majesty’s previous statements on them have been unequivocal, describing them as an ‘atrocity’ which ‘forever stains our history.’”