Commonwealth Leaders at the 2026 Summit. Photo credit CHOGM To hear Andy Burnham’s condescending response regarding any apology or reparation for the legacy of slavery is to see the colonial White mindset in action. His defence for not granting reparations to the Commonwealth countries whose people were enslaved is that the UK population today had nothing to do with slavery, so they shouldn’t be held accountable. Taken on its own merit, and out of context, that’s a fair point. But when you put it beside other aspects of this sorry tale of White supremacy and cruelty, the argument doesn’t stand up. To understand where Commonwealth countries are coming from, a brief background to this debate is necessary. Believe it or not, Britain finally abolished the trading of enslaved people across its empire with the Slave Trade Act of 2007 (though the initial ban on purchasing or transporting slaves via British ships occurred 200 years earlier under the Slave Trade Act of 1807! ). However, ...