Kemi Badenoch proposes UK boycott of Commonwealth summits if they are just demands for cash
Published: | Updated:
Kemi Badenoch last night raised the prospect of Britain boycotting Commonwealth summits if countries continue to ask Britain for reparations.
The Tory leader issued a sharp rebuke to the Prime Minister's suggestion he could apologise for Britain's role in the slave trade.
In a post on X, she said: 'If Caribbean countries are asking Britain for a formal apology for Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade, will they also be asking the same of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade?
'There is no reason British taxpayers today should be held financially responsible for things that happened generations before any of us were born.
'As Prime Minister, Andy Burnham should be Britain's greatest defender.
'Instead, he is writing articles saying we need to confront our history (as if we haven't done enough of that) and considering another formal historical apology.
Kemi Badenoch has suggested Britain should reconsider attending Commonwealth summits if Caribbean countries continue demanding apologies and financial reparations for Britain's historical role in the slave trade
'If every Commonwealth summit becomes an exercise in presenting Britain with demands for cash, then we need to start asking if it is worth the effort.'
Her statement has been viewed millions of times on X.
Mrs Badenoch has been buoyed by a recent surge in popularity. A poll in The i newspaper this weekend by BMG put her as the UK's most popular leader, with +6 rating, ahead of the prime minister on +3 and Nigel Farage on – 20.
Meanwhile, Politico's 'poll of polls' puts the Tories in second place behind Labour – ahead of Reform for the first time since December 2024.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.