British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he is open to a formal apology by the United Kingdom for its role in the transatlantic slave trade while ruling out financial reparations, according to reporting Saturday^1,2,3.

The remarks come as King Charles III tours the Caribbean and as Commonwealth leaders prepare to meet in Antigua, where slavery, apology and reparations have been pressed by regional governments and campaigners^1,2,4.

Burnham described a planned structured dialogue with people affected by the trade and said listening to calls for a state apology would be part of that process, the BBC reported¹. He said financial reparations were not the right answer and that people in Britain today should not be treated as liable for historical wrongs in which they took no personal part, according to that account of a newspaper essay^1,4.

The BBC said Britain has never issued a formal apology for slavery or offered to pay reparations, and that Burnham is keeping his predecessors' line against payments¹. Sky News presented the same openness to an apology against the backdrop of the king's Caribbean visit². Reuters summarized the dual stance in its headline: open to a formal apology, reparations ruled out³.

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who has sought reparations, said she would engage in good faith while still pursuing reparatory justice, the BBC reported¹. Denis O'Brien, founder of The Repair Campaign, said the statement fell short and called for a full formal apology as a first step, according to the same report¹.

In Antigua, Citizens for Reparatory Justice and other groups plan demonstrations, vigils and a public campaign around the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the Guardian reported⁴. James Knight of that group said an announcement that there would be no apology and no reparations made protest necessary, according to that account⁴. Caricom reparations commission chair Hilary Beckles described the gathering as centered on reparatory justice even if the issue is not a dedicated official agenda item⁴.

Buckingham Palace, in a letter described by the Guardian, said questions about the United Kingdom's position on reparations were for the British government⁴. Antigua and Barbuda reparations support commission chair Dorbrene O'Marde has argued that statements falling short of an apology avoid historical responsibility⁴.

The Caricom commission's plan lists a full formal apology among its first demands⁴. Jamaica has a petition related to reparations claims that the Guardian said is due to be heard by the Privy Council in March⁴. What, if anything, Burnham will say at the summit, and whether a formal apology follows the dialogue he described, was not settled in Saturday's reporting^1,3,4.