𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Andy Burnham is creating ‘pressure’ for King Charles after declaring that he was “open” to apologising for Britain’s role in the slave trade. The Prime Minister’s comments immediately triggered calls from leaders in the West Indies for Britain to pay billions of pounds in reparations – and sparked questions about the UK’s official stance.

The issue has prompted Tory leader Kemi Badenoch to ask whether the UK should boycott Commonwealth summits if they become “an exercise in presenting Britain with demands for cash”. Mr Burnham’s statement has led to speculation as to whether the King, who is head of the Commonwealth, will be forced to make a public apology on behalf of Britain, or at least drastically change his keynote speech to a gathering of leaders in Antigua on Tuesday.

Mr Burnham, who will fly to the Caribbean for the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM), told The Guardian that he wanted to offer a “structured dialogue” with those affected by slavery, saying: “Listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state will form an important part of this process. I am open to them.”

He also expressed his personal “sorrow and regret”, while rejecting demands for reparations.

Asked if he is embarrassing the King, Mrs Mrs Badenoch told Sky News: “I think that if he starts going in to do things which the sovereign is not doing, I think that he could create pressure. I don’t think that this is what our Prime Minister should be doing at this CHOGM summit.

“I think he should be talking about how Commonwealth countries should be making themselves, you know, looking at shared interests, allies working together, security cooperations, economic partnerships, not apologies and reparations. We’ve had enough of that.”

Asked by presenter Fraser Nelson that if the King gives an apology, would he then be wrong to do so”, she added: “The King is the sovereign.

“He is the person who can make a call on that. I don’t think that he is doing that. What I want to see is our Prime Minister actually talking about defending this country for once and be the Prime Minister, not the chief apologiser.”

Last night, both Downing Street and Buckingham Palace insisted that the King had not been blindsided, and that the Palace had been aware of Mr Burnham’s “significant” comments in advance.

Charles’s tour, designed to strengthen trade and diplomatic ties in the Caribbean, has, so far, widely been considered a success.

And he was already prepared to face a storm at the biannual CHOGM in Antigua, with campaigners warning him ‘not to come empty-handed’.

Last week, he visited Guyana and The Bahamas, where a reparations committee had urged him to issue a formal apology for the Crown’s “undeniable” links to slavery.