Kay Burley
Role at the time: Broadcaster and former Sky News presenter
Statement summary
Replying to Braverman after visiting Elmina Castle in Ghana, Burley says Europeans should never tire of acknowledging the horrors of the slave trade and asking forgiveness, and that Britain played its own shameful part.
“Having just left Elmina Castle in Ghana, where enslaved Africans were imprisoned before being shipped across the Atlantic, I think Europeans should never tire of acknowledging the horrors of our shared history and asking forgiveness from our African friends. Britain played its own shameful part in that history.”
Why we used this label
The reference point is Andy Burnham's position, set out on October 30, 2026, that he is open to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state for the transatlantic slave trade while ruling out financial reparations. Burley answers Braverman's objection to a formal apology by saying Europeans should keep asking forgiveness and that Britain played its own shameful part. That supports the acknowledgment and apology Burnham is open to, so the label marks support for his position; it does not describe a view of the slave trade itself, which she calls a horror. She does not address reparations.