Tucked away in John Healey’s budget is decision to ringfence preventative projects where future savings outweigh initial cost
It merited the briefest of mentions in John Healey’s speech and just one paragraph in the 166-page budget document, but some believe it could revolutionise not just public spending but the very process of government itself: a new focus on long-term outcomes.
The idea in the broad sense is very simple. Any spending deemed to be “preventative” – that is, the initial outlay will be more than made up for by future savings – will from now on be ringfenced, meaning it cannot be raided for more immediate needs.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he is open to calls for a formal apology for Britain’s historical role in slavery, before attending next week’s Commonwealth summit at which he is likely to face demands for financial reparations.
Writing in the Guardian newspaper, Burnham said Britain was “offering a structured dialogue with those affected by the transatlantic slave trade”, in which at least 12.5 million Africans were abducted and sold into slavery.
“Listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state will form an important part of this process, and I am open to them,” he added.
But Burnham rejected calls for financial reparations, writing: “I do not think that British people today can be held liable for historical wrongs, however heinous, that happened in a different age under different laws and in which they played no personal part.”
From the 15th to the 19th century, millions of Africans were sold into slavery by European traders, with Britain transporting an estimated 3.2 million people across the Atlantic, according to the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database.
Ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda next week, King Charles, who is touring the Caribbean, said it was “only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of the past”.
Caribbean leaders are expected to press demands for reparations, which they have often framed in terms of debt relief, development finance, education, healthcare and climate resilience.
Burnham also wrote in the Guardian that he wanted to “launch a new drive on debt”, including by helping more vulnerable countries “repay over a longer time period and with better rates”.
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne welcomed Burnham’s comments and proposals for practical assistance, though he added in a Facebook post: “The Caribbean’s longstanding position on reparatory justice remains unchanged.”
Burnham says British people can't 'be held liable for historical wrongs,' but will consider formally apologizing, amid anger during King Charles's visit to former colonies
Shift in dealings with Washington not likely to reset once Trump leaves Oval Office, former PM says
The UK and other European nations must draw closer together as the US becomes a less-reliable partner, Keir Starmer has said in his first significant political intervention since leaving No 10.
The former prime minister warned European leaders of the threat posed by Russia, among others, and said the shift in relations with Washington during Donald Trump’s presidency was not likely to reset once he leaves the Oval Office. He accused them of being caught out by these new realities twice already.
Shift in dealings with Washington not likely to reset once Trump leaves Oval Office, former PM says
The UK and other European nations must draw closer together as the US becomes a less-reliable partner, Keir Starmer has said in his first significant political intervention since leaving No 10.
The former prime minister warned European leaders of the threat posed by Russia, among others, and said the shift in relations with Washington during Donald Trump’s presidency was not likely to reset once he leaves the Oval Office. He accused them of being caught out by these new realities twice already.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Saturday he was "open" to the UK issuing a formal apology for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, but ruled out financial reparations.
Activists see meeting as opportunity to demand UK confront role in transatlantic enslavement
“The royal family enslaved us! Apologise now! Reparatory justice now!”
King Charles and the UK prime minister, Andy Burnham, will be greeted with messages as they travel through Antigua’s capital, St John’s, to attend meetings at the Commonwealth leaders’ summit next week. On billboards, placards and T-shirts, in letters and at a candlelight vigil for the thousands of Africans trafficked to Antigua and Barbuda during the transatlantic slave trade, the message from the Caribbean will be pervasive: slavery reparations is not an issue they “are going to be able to dodge”.
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