It came as Sir Idris Elba also congratulated Andy Burnham on entering Downing Street as the duo met on the sidelines of the Commonwealth summit in Antigua and Barbuda
Andy Burnham has doubled down on his refusal to pay reparations over Britain’s role in the slave trade.
But he said he was prepared to listen to “meaningful dialogue” with Commonwealth partners on the issue. Speaking at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua, the Prime Minister said previous UK governments had not been as willing to engage as its allies wanted.
Mr Burnham said: “That is what’s said by some of our partners, that there wasn’t sufficient dialogue – particularly on that crucial issue of the slave trade. It matters greatly to them, and obviously it’s important as part of a partnership that you listen when people want to raise things.
“And that’s what we’ve suggested this week with a structured dialogue. And that has led to a very positive event, and people have come towards us to say that they appreciate what we’ve done.”
Asked if he could guarantee that not a single penny of taxpayers’ money would go to Commonwealth countries as a result of the new approach, Mr Burnham said: “I’ve been very clear that we do not support reparations.” He went on: “But it’s not the case that we don’t support countries in the Commonwealth around development and helping them with debt issues that they’ve got, green finance.
“That’s what we’ve done under all governments, and in my view we should continue to do.” The Prime Minister, asked about any other financial contributions, said: “What we need to have is that meaningful dialogue where we take time to listen.
“And let’s be clear: the Commonwealth is an important part of our trade, too. It’s a two-way arrangement. Trade is up between the UK and the rest of the Commonwealth in the last year, quite significantly actually. So you need to see it in that way as well. It benefits Britain to be here, listening to people, building that new partnership. And that’s good for growth in Britain.”
Earlier King Charles said in a speech that slavery “fills my heart with horror and my soul with the most profound personal sorrow”, but did not offer an apology. It came after the President of Ghana said Britain had shown a “shift in some very strong positions” and is “more open to interacting with the rest of the world“.
John Dramani Mahama said the Prime Minister’s approach “creates a first step for us to continue to work to see how we can put this whole issue of transatlantic slave trade and colonialism behind us”. Earlier Sir Idris Elba also congratulated Mr Burnham on entering Downing Street as the duo met on the sidelines of the Commonwealth summit.
The Prime Minister said he was trying to use his premiership to “build some positivity” as he sat down with the Golden-globe winning star on Tuesday. They were meeting to talk about Sir Idris’ work with the King’s Trust and will also likely discuss knife crime in the UK, over which the actor has long campaigned.
Mr Burnham recounted his “baptism of fire” playing cricket with Sir Viv Richards straight after stepping off the plane on Monday, when he fell over while attempting a risky single. He said: “I arrived and they had me playing cricket with Sir Viv Richards literally off the plane. It’s pretty tough, that isn’t it… baptism of fire in the West Indies.”
Sir Idris laughed and said “I’ve wanted to meet for a while”, before congratulating the Prime Minister on entering Downing Street and adding: “What a task.” Mr Burnham added: “It’s a big one. I’m trying to build some positivity.”
On Monday, the Luther star, 54, also bumped into the King on the sidelines of the Caribbean summit.8 Sir Idris – goodwill ambassador for the King’s Trust – asked the monarch: “How are you doing though, are you having a good time?” and then sympathised with Charles getting caught in the rain over the weekend.