Government has resisted calls to say sorry for slave trade or colonialism but has done so for other historical wrongs

As leaders gathered at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) in the Pacific nation of Samoa this week, they hoped that the UK government and King Charles might use the summit as an opportunity to issue an apology for Britain’s colonial past and discuss reparatory justice.

While their concerns were acknowledged, the UK stressed that it would not pay reparations, and while Keir Starmer called the slave trade “abhorrent”, the government is yet to make a formal apology.