Slavery: Why Andy Burnham might make apology but not reparations on trip to Antigua and Barbuda

Andy Burnham is flying to Antigua and Barbuda to attend a Commonwealth leaders’ summit, where he may state the UK is open to apologising for slavery, or make the apology. The Prime Minister will join King Charles in the Caribbean as leaders attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting , where talks about the issue of slavery are likely to dominate. The King acknowledged the painful legacy of Britain's role in the slave trade as part of his visit last week, but did not go as far as to apologise.

Charles has also attended a church service and addressed the Church of England parliament , although he has faced calls from the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda to step down as the country's head of state. As per recent convention, though, it has not been the role of the monarch to make a first move politically, and it is likely that an apology for slavery would be made by a Prime Minister. Mr Burnham jetted off on Monday morning and is likely to face questions about the issue this week.

Want LBC stories before everyone else? Set us as your Preferred Source on Google What was the slave trade? For more than 300 years, from 1500 to 1800, the Transatlantic Slave Trade saw around 12 to 15 million Africans trafficked and sent to work by force in North, Central, and South America. Africans were traded for goods that had come from Europe and were sent by ship to the Americas for hard labour on the plantations. At least two million Africans in the passage, and men were shackled and flogged, and separated from women and children, who were also abused.

The slaves that did arrive were then sold to the highest bidder at an auction before being put to work on plantations for sugar, coffee, and tobacco as well as rice and cotton. The proceeds were then shipped back to Europe. The process made European countries richer, while putting millions through suffering and putting African countries into poverty. Why would Andy Burnham apologise? Britain played one of the largest roles in instigating and profiting from the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and, alongside Portugal, was responsible for enslaving 70% of the Africans involved.

The UK abolished slavery over several stages in the 1830s, but a head of state or Prime Minister has never formally apologised, despite acknowledgements of "deep suffering". Mr Burnham is facing calls to apologise, and the Commonwealth summit presents an opportunity as it falls in Britain’s Black History Month. The PM wrote: "We are offering a structured dialogue with those affected by the transatlantic slave 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.”

What are the arguments against him apologising? While Mr Burnham has said he is open to apologising, the Prime Minister is not expected to make reparations to countries that have historically been impacted. The PM did not speak about reparations ahead of the visit, but Ralph Gonsalves, a former prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, told the Guardian that the UK had demanded that the issue was not on the agenda. He said: "The British officials – and in that regard they were joined by the Canadian officials – were even raising the prospect that if it is on the agenda, the prime minister of Britain wouldn’t go."

Britain has touched on the issue in the past, with a 1991 initiative reducing debt for poorer countries and allowing them to make payments over a longer period. The issue of reparations sparked debate on LBC over the weekend. LBC listener Jermaine called in to say: "Everything today in the present, you know, this whole empire, this English, this British Empire, most of the wealth, most of the money came from slavery, whether you like it or not, yet became a state-sponsored enterprise with the monarch there.

"You know, I'm going so far as to found and invest in slave trading companies. So this whole Britain that people know today, okay, whether it was involved with it or not, the way people live today is all the backs, all because of the back of slavery." Others suggested that Britain should address modern slavery instead, argued that taxpayers shouldn't be made to bear the costs, and that the descendants of slave owners are the ones that should bear any cost.

LBC presenter Ali Miraj said: "I'm just saying that it should concern us because if we're going to get it right, there are descendants of people who were enslaved in this country who will not be seeing basically a penny of that, potentially, if it goes to Caribbean countries. "I mean, they might want to channel some of that back here. I don't know. But shouldn't that be part of the conversation, the practicalities of this? Surely. Of course it should."