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Kemi Badenoch, leader of Britain’s Conservative Party, has rejected calls for a formal apology over the country’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, saying African kingdoms and merchants also participated in the trade.
Badenoch said Britain should acknowledge the full history of slavery rather than focus on politically convenient aspects.
She was reacting to comments by British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who said he was open to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the country.
In an opinion article published in The Guardian on Friday, Burnham described the slave trade as a “brutal and barbaric violation” against enslaved people.
Responding in a statement on X on Saturday, Badenoch questioned whether Caribbean countries demanding an apology from Britain would make similar demands of descendants of African kingdoms and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade.
“Slavery was an evil in which people from every continent and region participated,” she said.
“We should be honest about the whole history, not select the parts that are politically convenient today, especially given Britain’s leading role in ending the transatlantic slave trade.
“If Caribbean countries are asking Britain for a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, will they also be asking the same of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade?
“On demands for reparations, whether through cash or debt relief, we have been down this track before.”
Badenoch recalled that campaigns such as Jubilee 2000, Drop the Debt and Make Poverty History had pushed for debt cancellation for poorer countries 25 years ago, leading to more than $100 billion in debt being written off.
However, she noted that many of those countries had since accumulated even larger debts.
Badenoch also said the Labour government was already spending too much on Britain’s welfare system and should not take on additional financial responsibilities towards other countries.
“There is no reason British taxpayers today should be held financially responsible for things that happened generations before any of us were born,” she said.
“And I have even less patience for political elites in Commonwealth countries who don’t know how to make their own citizens prosperous now looking for another opportunity to blame Britain.
“As Prime Minister, Andy Burnham should be Britain’s greatest defender. Instead, he is writing articles saying we need to confront our history (as if we haven’t done enough of that) and considering another formal historical apology.
“Tony Blair already expressed Britain’s deep sorrow and regret for our role in the slave trade nearly twenty years ago. There is no need to do so again.”
She described the renewed debate as “another navel-gazing distraction”, urging Commonwealth countries to prioritise economic partnerships and security cooperation.
