Slavery: Rishi Sunak rejects call to apologise and pay reparations

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has dismissed a telephone for the authorities to apologise and wage reparations for the UK's historical relation successful slavery.

Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy asked if helium would marque a "full and meaningful apology" and "commit to reparatory justice".

The PM said "no", adding "trying to unpick our past is not the close mode forward".

The UK authorities has ne'er formally apologised for its relation successful the trade.

Laura Trevelyan, erstwhile BBC writer and reparations campaigner, said she welcomed Mr Sunak's "commitment to knowing Britain's past and not moving distant from it".

The Atlantic enslaved commercialized saw millions of Africans enslaved and forced to work, particularly connected plantations successful the Caribbean and Americans, for centuries from astir 1500.

The British authorities and the monarchy were salient participants successful the trade, alongside different European nations.

Britain besides had a cardinal relation successful ending the commercialized done Parliament's transition of a instrumentality to abolish slavery successful 1833.

This year, Caribbean leaders, activists and the descendants of enslaved owners person been putting the UK authorities nether expanding unit to prosecute with the reparations movement.

Reparations are broadly recognised arsenic compensation fixed for thing that was deemed incorrect oregon unfair, and tin instrumentality the galore forms.

Tony Blair has antecedently expressed "deep sorrow" for slavery erstwhile helium was premier curate successful 2006, but was criticised by reparations campaigners for not going further.

In 2007, helium was asked wherefore helium had antecedently stopped abbreviated of apologising for the UK's relation successful the commercialized during a quality league with Ghana's then-President John Kufuor.

"Well really I person said it: We are sorry. And I accidental it again now," Mr Blair said.

Ms Ribeiro-Addy brought up the UK's historical relation successful slavery during a league of Prime Minister's Questions successful the House of Commons.

She said during his past quality astatine PMQs, the precocious Labour MP Bernie Grant had "asked for an apology to the radical of African descent, surviving and dead, for our country's relation successful slavery and colonialism".

Ms Ribeiro-Addy asked Mr Sunak if "he volition bash what Bernie Grant asked each those years ago".

"No, Mr Speaker," Mr Sunak said. "What I deliberation our absorption should present beryllium is, of course, knowing our past and each its parts, not moving distant from it, but close present making definite we person a nine that's inclusive and tolerant of radical from each backgrounds.

"That's thing that we connected this broadside of the House are committed to doing and we'll proceed to deliver. But trying to unpick our past is not the close mode guardant and is not thing we'll absorption our energies on."

This week, the descendants of immoderate of the UK's wealthiest enslaved owners launched an activistic movement, urging the authorities to apologise for slavery and connection reparative justice.

One of the group's founders is erstwhile TV presenter Laura Trevelyan, who precocious discontinue the BBC to go a full-time slavery reparations campaigner.

Ms Trevelyan, who has apologised for her ancestors' enslaved owning past successful Grenada, said slavery is "a brutal portion of Britain's past which has near a achy bequest successful the Caribbean and successful Britain".

"Since 2014, Caribbean nations person been asking the erstwhile assemblage powers to prosecute successful discussions based connected their 10-point reparations plans," she said.

"I anticipation that Britain's authorities volition not cede the Caribbean to China's influence, and volition statesman to repair the harm of the past by answering CARICOM's telephone for talks."