The United Kingdom government has said it will not apologise to Nigeria and other African and Caribbean countries colonised by the British for taking thousands of Africans as slaves during the slave trade era.
The British government will be taking part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) summit in Samoa, Downing Street this week.
According to the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, the government is opposed to apologising for the UK’s historical role in slavery and will also not pay compensation for slavery.
There have been calls from countries colonised by the British especially the Caribbean nations for the UK government to pay reparation for its role in slavery trade with lawmakers from the Labour party also mounting pressure on the government to address the issue on the role of Britain in slave trade.
However, the Prime Minister ‘s office Is adamant saying he will.not discuss the issue at the Summit.
“Reparation is not on the agenda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. The government’s position on this has not changed, we do not pay reparations. The prime minister’s attending this week’s summit to discuss shared challenges and opportunities faced by the Commonwealth including driving growth across our economies,” his spokesman said.
He added. “The position on apology remains the same; we won’t be offering an apology at CHOGM but we would continue to engage with partners on the issues as we work with them to tackle the pressing challenges of today and indeed for the future generations.”
