London: British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out paying reparation or formally apologising for transatlantic slavery and colonialism ahead of this week’s meeting of Commonwealth leaders amid growing calls to address historical wrongs.
Starmer was again forced to weigh into the fraught debate on Monday as he praised King Charles for doing a “fantastic job” after he was heckled by Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe, who was demanding a treaty and has been a prominent member of the “pay the rent” campaign for reparations.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during his visit to a NHS Healthcare Facility in East London on Monday.Credit: Getty Images
The UK press, travelling with the King, was quick to jump on the incident, with The Sun’s royal photographer Arthur Edwards labelling it “appalling behaviour” and the London Telegraph’s royal editor, Hannah Furness, writing the overriding sense “apart from frustration” among Australians will be embarrassment.
“Even avowed republicans promised to be on their “best behaviour” and did just that, extending the hand of friendship and keeping up the honoured Australian tradition of hospitality,” Furness wrote.
“The fact that it may now appear they have fallen short on the world stage, thanks to one lone protester, is painful.”
Starmer said the King was an “incredible ambassador” for the UK and the 56 independent countries that make up the Commonwealth. Except for four recent admissions, all Commonwealth members are former British colonies.
Leaders of Commonwealth nations will meet in Samoa later this week with all three candidates vying to become the next secretary-general – Shirley Botchwey, the Ghanaian foreign minister, Joshua Setipa, a former trade minister in Lesotho and Mamadou Tangara, a Gambian diplomat – having backed the idea of making amends for slavery and colonialism.
The organisation has long resisted tackling the legacy of slavery in a public forum but a reckoning with its roots in the British Empire has returned to the agenda through the election process of a new secretary-general.
Asked by a reporter if it was “disgraceful” that Australian politicians “are heckling the King”, Starmer said he was looking forward to joining Charles at the Commonwealth summit in Samoa.
