Key facts
- Miliband said the apology may come around the time the prime minister hosts the G20 Summit in Manchester in November 2027.
- Miliband said former Prime Minister Tony Blair's 'sorry not sorry' remarks on slavery are still referred to.
- Miliband said the issue has hung over the Commonwealth for about 20 years and has grown.
- Miliband said over three million people were shipped with the British state's complicity, and hundreds of thousands died.
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said on November 4, 2026 that the government's willingness to consider formally apologising for the UK's role in the transatlantic slave trade would not lead to higher costs for the British taxpayer. Speaking on the BBC's Newscast podcast, Miliband said previous British governments had a "sweep it under the carpet" attitude to the pain and consequences of slavery, citing former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair's "sorry not sorry" remarks nearly two decades ago.
Miliband said Blair's approach was still referred to and came up in a recent conversation between Prime Minister Andy Burnham and the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley. He said he and Burnham inherited a more recent problem, referring to how the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa two years ago played out. Miliband said he was told on his second day as foreign secretary that CHOGM 2024 in Samoa "didn't go well" and ended in a "verbal punch up" about the issue.
Burnham now says the government is open to formally apologising for slavery. Ministers are beginning what they call a "structured dialogue" with affected countries, with the expectation that the apology may come around the time the prime minister hosts the G20 Summit of world leaders in Manchester in November 2027. Miliband said he had asked to be provided with a historical digest of the UK's involvement in the slave trade, saying over three million people were shipped with the British state's complicity and hundreds of thousands died.