Andy Burnham's offer to discuss formal apology over slavery calms reparations tensions

UK prime minister promises to champion debt reset for struggling Commonwealth nations alongside £40mn for vital infrastructure in Caribbean

Andy Burnham has weathered a storm over reparations at the Commonwealth summit, with the organisation's leaders welcoming his offer of a "structured dialogue" on Britain's role in the slave trade and to consider a formal apology.

UK officials anticipate the process to craft what such an acknowledgment might look like could take about a year, allowing time to engage with stakeholders and attempt to persuade those calling for financial reparations to climb down from the demand.

The British prime minister signalled his openness to an apology before flying to Antigua on Tuesday in a bid to defuse an issue that has dominated several previous Commonwealth summits.

Burnham also vowed that the UK would champion a debt reset for struggling nations within the association and pledged £40mn over the next three years to support critical infrastructure investment in the Caribbean, including renewable energy.

Jitters persist in some parts of Whitehall that a state apology could leave Britain vulnerable to a legal challenge for reparations, although some officials contest such fears.

The Netherlands, for example, issued a formal apology for its role in the slave trade in 2022, but the Dutch government did not pay direct cash reparations to individuals. Instead, it allocated €200mn to help fund awareness projects, issue community grants and establish a slavery museum.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Burnham of making the UK "look weak" by offering to apologise, and some government figures are anxious about growing Tory attacks on Labour's foreign policy.

Badenoch's party has also accused Labour of wanting to "surrender" the Chagos Islands and wavering over the UK's military defence of the Falklands -- claims the government rejects.

The communiqué from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) was agreed on Thursday after the leaders met in private without officials.

It stated: "We welcome the agreement of the Government of the United Kingdom to engage in a structured, time-bound, inclusive and good-faith dialogue with affected parties addressing the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans and its historical harms."

Sofia Pennacchietti, of the British Foreign Policy Group, said remarks made by King Charles at the meeting, in which he called on Britain to "learn from the past", helped to "take some of the heat out" of the situation.

She said it was inevitable that the UK's colonial past would continue to be a dominant topic within the Commonwealth, stretching beyond slavery. For nations such as Canada, New Zealand and Australia, there is "still very much a discussion around what British colonial history meant to each country for their indigenous populations", she added.

However, wider questions remain for Britain about the purpose and direction of the 56-nation bloc, and Burnham has said the UK will lead efforts to overhaul the association and shift its focus to trade, security and climate change.

Olivia O'Sullivan, director of the UK in the World programme at Chatham House, said that the Commonwealth was a "very useful and interesting" group.

"It includes the global north and global south without the US and China," she added. "But probably long term, the UK needs to think about making sure it's meaningful to all of the countries in the grouping, including some of the middle powers that the UK is seeking to deepen ties with, like India."

Ben Judah, a former Labour adviser at the Foreign Office, revealed last week that Whitehall had examined proposals to reduce the frequency of Commonwealth summits from every two years to up to about five years.

The ideas floated in the review, first reported by Politico, have not been adopted by the Foreign Office.

Earlier this week, the UK enjoyed a soft power boost after British lawyer Dapo Akande won a seat on the UN's International Court of Justice.

The diplomatic coup came a decade after another UK judge failed to get re-elected to the court following Brexit, an outcome widely read as a symbol of Britain's reduced international influence after leaving the EU.