The British Prime Minister has ruled out reparations and even a formal apology for colonialism and the UK's involvement in the slave trade ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting this week.
Keir Starmer was pressed on the issue both due to the looming CHOGM meeting and Senator Lidia Thorpe's protest against King Charles III on Monday evening.
The PM praised Charles as doing a "fantastic job" as constitutional monarch after Senator Thorpe denounced the legacy of the Crown and its empire.
With the exception of four recent admissions, the 56 independent countries of the British Commonwealth are former British colonies.
This week the Commonwealth heads of state will meet in Samoa and elect a new secretary-general, with the three candidates for the position all in favour of formal measures to make amends for slavery and colonialism.
Fairfax reports Mr Starmer was asked if it was "disgraceful" that Senator Thorpe "heckled" the King, which the PM did not directly address.
"I think he's doing a fantastic job, and we should remember in the context of health, that he is out there doing his public service notwithstanding, you know, the health challenges he himself has had – so I think he's doing a great job," he said.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister later said: "Reparations are not on the agenda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The government's position on this has not changed, we do not pay reparations."
"The position on apology remains the same, we won't be offering an apology at CHOGM, but we will continue to engage with partners on the issues as we work with them to tackle the pressing challenges of today and indeed for the future generations," they added.
The impact of British imperialism worldwide was severe, rivalling that of any other colonial power. One million people were starved to death in Ireland's great famine in the 19th century, wherein food was shipped from the country by British authorities despite blight causing the failure of potato crops, and up to 3.8 million in Bengal in 1943 starved to death as a result of British policy. In Australia massacres, land theft and the abduction of children was carried out by colonial and settler institutions, or with their approval. Throughout Britain's African colonies control was maintained through violent suppression.
The empire also plundered India's tremendous wealth, with some estimating 35 trillion pounds (more than $68 trillion) was stolen from the subcontinent
At least 10 million people were trafficked from Africa to the Americas by or with the approval of the UK and European states from the late 15th to the mid-19th century. Many died in horrifying conditions on slave ships and once they arrived in the Americas.
Charles III has previously said research into the monarchy's links with slavery should be pursued, after a document emerged revealing a predecessor's stake in a slave-trading company.
At the last CHOGM meeting in Rwanda in 2022, Charles, then Prince of Wales, said: "I cannot describe the depths of my personal sorrow at the suffering of so many, as I continue to deepen my own understanding of slavery's enduring impact."
In 2023 a United Nations judge argued the UK owes about £18 trillion ($35 trillion) in reparations for its involvement in slavery in 14 countries.
Dean of Trinity College Cambridge, Reverend Dr Michael Banner, wrote this year that the UK owes the Caribbean alone more than £200 billion in slavery reparations.
