Starmer says Charles doing a ‘fantastic job’ as Thorpe’s heckle makes UK news

London: British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out paying reparation or formally apologising for transatlantic slavery and colonialism ahead of this week’s meeting of Commonwealth leaders amid growing calls to address historical wrongs.

Starmer was again forced to weigh into the fraught debate on Monday as he praised King Charles for doing a “fantastic job” after he was heckled by Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe, who was demanding a treaty and has been a prominent member of the “pay the rent” campaign for reparations.

Keir Starmer and the front pages of the British press.Credit: Jamie Brown

The UK press, travelling with the King, was quick to jump on the incident, with The Sun’s royal photographer Arthur Edwards labelling it “appalling behaviour” and the London Telegraph’s royal editor, Hannah Furness, writing the overriding sense, “apart from frustration”, among Australians will be embarrassment.

“Even avowed republicans promised to be on their ‘best behaviour’ and did just that, extending the hand of friendship and keeping up the honoured Australian tradition of hospitality,” Furness wrote.

“The fact that it may now appear they have fallen short on the world stage, thanks to one lone protester, is painful.”

Images of Thorpe appeared on the front pages of the Telegraph, The Guardian and The Daily Express. The incident also made news on the BBC, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Starmer said the King was an “incredible ambassador” for the UK and the 56 independent countries that comprise the Commonwealth. Except for four recent admissions, all Commonwealth members are former British colonies.

Leaders of Commonwealth nations will meet in Samoa later this week with all three candidates for the next secretary-general - Shirley Botchwey, the Ghanaian foreign minister, Joshua Setipa, a former trade minister in Lesotho, and Mamadou Tangara, a Gambian diplomat – backing the idea of making amends for slavery and colonialism.

The organisation has long resisted tackling the legacy of slavery in a public forum but a reckoning with its roots in the British Empire has returned to the agenda through the election process of a new secretary-general.

Asked by a reporter if it was “disgraceful” that Australian politicians “are heckling the King”, Starmer said he was looking forward to joining Charles at the Commonwealth summit in Samoa.

“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,” Starmer said of the King’s cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Calls for reparations to address historical wrongs across what the late Elizabeth II called the “family of nations” have gained momentum and several institutions and countries have acknowledged their past.

But in response to the growing campaign, a Downing Street spokesman 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.”

Asked about an apology, the spokesman added: “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.”

The King is the ceremonial head of the Commonwealth, whose members include west African and Caribbean countries affected by the slave trade. About 10 million people were enslaved by Britain and European nations between the 15th and 19th centuries and sent to work on plantations across the Atlantic in the Caribbean and the Americas.

Charles has previously signalled his support for research into the British monarchy’s historical links with transatlantic slavery, after the emergence last year of a document showing a predecessor’s stake in a slave-trading company.

As Prince of Wales at the last CHOGM in Rwanda two years ago, he addressed the issue for the first time, telling leaders: “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.”

Last year a United Nations judge claimed the UK owes about £18 trillion ($35 trillion) in reparations for its involvement in slavery in 14 countries while Reverend Dr Michael Banner, the dean of Trinity College Cambridge, claimed earlier this year that Britain owes the Caribbean more than £200 billion in slavery reparations.

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.