Politics news: Andy Burnham opens door to slavery payouts as Commonwealth nations seek ‘justice’

Andy Burnham has opened the door to handing over slavery payouts just as Commonwealth nations seek out “justice”.

Last week, the Prime Minister, who will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in the Caribbean this week, shared his personal “sorrow and regret” for the suffering caused by the historic trade.

While Mr Burnham ruled out formal reparations, he has signalled he was opening to handing over cash through foreign aid funding for health and education projects, The Telegraph revealed.

An FCDO official said the report was “completely untrue”, and told Politico aid policy, additional allocations and payments will be involved in Government policy.

So far this year, Britain has handed over £75million to Nigeria, and another £2.4million over to Jamaica.

The Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness, admitted he was searching for “meaningful talks on reparatory justice” this week.

Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, warned an apology would provide “yet another opportunity for people to start asking Britain for money because of the slave trade”.