Sir Keir Starmer will arrive in Samoa tomorrow ahead of a Commonwealth summit (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer has rejected calls for reparations by insisting the UK is “looking forward rather than looking backwards”.
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The Prime Minister will make history tomorrow when he becomes the first UK leader to visit a Pacific Island nation.
He attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa alongside The King.
The Prime Minister has ruled out reparations and an apology for slavery amid reports Chancellor Rachel Reeves could cut foreign aid at next week’s Budget.
Speaking to reporters on the way to CHOGM, Sir Keir said: “On the question of which way we're facing, I think we should be facing forward.
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“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.”
He added: “That's where I'm going to put my focus rather than what will end up being very, very long endless discussions about reparations in the past. This is about stance really, looking forward rather than looking backwards
“Now of course slavery is abhorrent to everybody - the trade and the practice. There's no question about that.
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“But I think from my point of view and taking the approach I've just taken, I'd rather roll up my sleeves and work with them on the current future-facing challenges than spend a lot of time on the past.”
Commonwealth allies could bring up the issue with Sir Keir in the coming days when they meet for bilateral talks.
Meanwhile Sir Keir played down suggestions that Commonwealth heavyweight nations like India and South Africa had snubbed CHOGM for a summit involving Russia and China.
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The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, and the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, are set to attend the BRICS summit in Russia instead.
Sir Keir said it was a “matter for them” where their leaders choose to attend.