Commonwealth leaders push PM for slavery reparations, as King acknowledges 'painful' past

The King and Prime Minister are in Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, from where ITV News Political Correspondent Romilly Weeks sent this report

Commonwealth leaders are urging the prime minister to commit to paying reparations for slavery, as the king acknowledged the "painful" slave trade during a Commonwealth summit.

Leaders are gathering in Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm), which has been dominated by calls from many Caribbean countries for the UK to pay reparations.

The Foreign Minister of the Bahamas told ITV News he believes the "arc of history" is already moving in the direction of reparatory justice for slavery, urging Keir Starmer to "just do it".

Fred Mitchell told ITV News Political Correspondent Romilly Weeks: "The monarch has said it should move in that direction, the prime minister of Britain intellectually is there - so it's only a question of making the step to make the commitment."

"It's not difficult to do it," he insisted.

The King alluded to the mounting pressure around reparations in his opening speech at the summit, telling delegates: "Our cohesion requires that we acknowledge where we have come from. I understand, from listening to people across the Commonwealth, how the most painful aspects of our past continue to resonate.

"None of us can change the past, but we can commit with all our hearts to learning its lessons and to finding creative ways to right inequalities that endured," he said.

The King's words echoed those of Keir Starmer to ITV News on Thursday, when he said "we should look forward, not backwards", because "we can't change the past."

"Of course, there's discussion about what we do in recognition of the slave trade... That is history. We can't change our history.

"The question for me, as we head into the days of this conference is what do we most want to focus on," he told Romilly Weeks.

In recent days the prime minister said he wouldn't be discussing reparations for slavery at the summit because it would lead to "very long endless discussions" about the "past", and Downing Street has insisted the issue isn't on the table.

"I think actually by focusing on [issues such as climate change and trade] we can make material impact in the next five, ten, 15, 20 years, whatever it may be. Whereas if we spend all of our time and energy simply talking about reparation, we won't address those issues," Starmer said.

But Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy also told ITV News on Thursday the government is open to discussions about reparations: "We're not opposed to having a conversation about any of the issues Commonwealth heads of government want to raise", she said.

Leaders at the summit are due to elect the new Commonwealth Secretary General, and all three candidates going for the job have called for reparations for countries affected by slavery and colonialism.

Caricom, a group of 15 Caribbean nations, has called for talks to explore such measures.

A report by a senior UN judge last year concluded the UK owes more than £18 trillion in reparations to 14 different countries, but there have been suggestions of other forms of reparatory justice that doesn't involve cash payments.

The Guardian newspaper reported on Friday that other options like a formal apology, climate adaptation, education programs, cultural insistutions or public health support are being considered by Downing Street.

However a No10 spokesperson said: "We don't recognise those reports. It remains the case that reparations are not on the agenda."

As part of his trip to the Commonwealth meeting, the King also visited Australia where he was berated by Australian senator Lidia Thorpe who accused him of “genocide” against her nation’s indigenous people.

Australian PM Anthony Albanese told journalists on Friday: "Lidia Thorpe’s outburst was, of course, about Lidia Thorpe... I thought it was rude, outrageous and entirely inappropriate."

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