Starmer faces demands to pay compensation for UK's role in slave trade

Sir Keir Starmer will face down demands to pay compensation for Britian's role in the slave trade as he flies into a key Commonwealth summit today.

The Prime Minister said he would rather work with countries affected by slavery on 'future facing challenges', than 'spend a lot of time on the past'.

But slavery reparations are set to be raised with him when he attends the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (Chogm) in Samoa today.

He is also under pressure from his own MPs - with one warning that it was 'extremely disrespectful' to other Commonwealth nations not to discuss the issue.

Sir Keir arrived in Samoa overnight - becoming the first UK PM to visit a Pacific Island country - where the organisation will elect its new secretary general.

All three candidates vying for the job have called for reparations to countries that were affected by slavery and colonialism.

Caricom, a group of 15 Caribbean nations, has also called for talks to explore such measures, and representatives from the region are expected to raise the issue in Samoa.

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But Downing Street has insisted the subject is 'not on the agenda' for the event and 'we won't be offering an apology'.

Sir Keir told reporters as he travelled to Samoa last night that he was focused on 'facing forward' - and suggested he wanted to help Commonwealth countries with climate change, rather than reparations.

The PM said: 'I've talked to a lot of our Commonwealth colleagues in the Commonwealth family and they're facing real challenges on things like climate in the here and now.

'And in all the conversations I've had with them, what they're most interested in is can we help them working with, for example, international institutions, financial institutions on the sorts of packages they need right now relation to the challenges they're facing right now.

'That's where I'm going to put my focus rather than what will end up being very, very long endless discussions about reparations on the past. This is about stance really, looking forward rather than looking backwards.'

Sir Keir said slavery was 'abhorrent', but that he would 'rather roll up my sleeves and work with them on the current future-facing challenges than spend a lot of time on the past'.

Estimates for the likely reparations bill for British involvement in slavery in 14 countries range from £206billion to £19trillion.

Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Afrikan [correct spelling] Reparations, said 'the UK still has that kind of veto reeks of the colonialism that people are still seeking some sort of resolution to'.

'I don't believe we should be in that position and it's extremely disrespectful to those countries,' she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

'We don't see them as equals if we tell them what should be discussed and what shouldn't be discussed.'

Last night it also emerged that Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis lectured a senior minister on the need for 'reparatory justice' for the Caribbean.

Foreign Office Minister Baroness Chapman was told that Britain must pay for 'the enduring impact of centuries of exploitation'.

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Addressing a welcome event for the peer in the capital, Nassau, he said: 'Another issue that lies close to both our hearts is reparatory justice.

'It's not an easy conversation, but it's an important one. Our history is deeply intertwined and with that comes a responsibility to face the past with honesty. The time has come to have real dialogue about how we address these historical wrongs.

'The call for repreparations is not simply about financial compensation.

'As Caribbean nations, we stand united in our demand for justice for generations who came before us and those of us who are still living with that brutal history.'

It is understood that Baroness Chapman did not discuss reparations during her visit, however, which was focused on formally ratifying trade deals between the UK and the Bahamas.

The peer also handed over 10,000 pages of historic documents pertaining to Bahamian Independence that had been stored in the National Archives.

While a majority of Commonwealth leaders are expected to attend the Commonwealth summit, India's Narendra Modi and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa will be noticeably absent.

Instead, they have chosen to attend the BRICS summit in Russia at the invitation of president Vladimir Putin, where the leaders of Brazil, China and several other prominent developing nations will also be present.

Asked whether he was sad India and South Africa were not attending the Commonwealth meeting, Sir Keir told reporters it was 'a matter for them as to where they attend'.