UK AGREES TO FORMAL TALKS ON TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE HARMS

Commonwealth leaders meeting in Antigua said the United Kingdom has agreed to hold "structured, time-bound, inclusive and good-faith" talks addressing the "historical harms" of the transatlantic slave trade. The commitment appears in the communique issued at the close of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Leaders said the UK would engage in dialogue with "affected parties" on the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans. No date has been set for the talks, with officials saying a timetable would be agreed later. The summit was the first Commonwealth meeting attended by Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

The agreement follows Burnham signalling he was open to a formal UK apology for the country's role in the slave trade, while ruling out reparations payments. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the talks could conclude within around a year. Asked whether an apology might come by the time the UK hosts the G20 leaders' summit in Manchester next November, Miliband said: "Broadly speaking, yes." Leaders said the talks should allow for a "meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity."

King Charles III, addressing the meeting as Head of the Commonwealth, said the slave trade "still casts a shadow over these islands and other Members of our Commonwealth," adding that it "fills my heart with horror and my soul with the most profound personal sorrow." Burnham called the gathering "the most successful meeting of the Commonwealth in recent times" and said the King's words had "resonated powerfully" with those present. He said his "new approach with the Commonwealth" had been well received by other leaders. The UK is due to host the G20 leaders' summit in Manchester next November.