Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been criticised for "selling out" King Charles after suggesting he was "open" to the UK offering a formal apology for the slave trade.
Speaking on GB News on Sunday, November 1, journalist Lara Brown, commissioning editor at The Spectator, addressed the Prime Minister's apparent U-turn on the issue.
King 'left out in the Caribbean'
Ms Brown said she felt "very bad for the King here, because obviously this isn't really a decision for him to make on his own. That's not how the monarchy works."
She added: "It would be very bad if he were going to go gallivanting around deciding our policy on reparations and an apology. He would have talked to Parliament. He would have carefully clarified these words of sorrow and regret that he's going to use in his speech.
"As usual, Andy Burnham, a man who just wants to be liked and nothing else, has encountered the slightest bit of hostility, and suddenly told journalists, 'oh, of course I'm open to an apology – I'll happily apologise' and left the King out in the Caribbean with words that now make him seem harsher and nastier than the Prime Minister."
She described it as "pretty bad governing, and a pretty poor approach to the monarchy," adding: "I hope he's going to get a telling off once the King is back in their Wednesday meetings."
Viewers react on social media
Viewers responded to Ms Brown's comments on X, with one saying: "Burnham would sell everyone out to appease the unappeasable." Another called the Labour leader an "uncouth numpty".
King Charles, who began his tour of the Caribbean in the Bahamas, acknowledged the "great suffering of the past" at a major summit this week, while refraining from offering an official apology on behalf of the UK.
Despite increased calls for the monarch to issue an apology, he is not allowed to do so because he is bound by the policies of the British Government.
Prime Minister's comments in The Guardian
In a surprise move, Mr Burnham appears to have undermined the King's current position. Writing for The Guardian, the PM remarked: "The transatlantic slave trade was a brutal and barbaric violation of those people. They were denied their humanity.
"They were separated from their families, treated as property and worked to their deaths. I want to express my sorrow and regret for the pain and suffering of so many millions and to recognise the way it still shapes our world today.
"We are offering a structured dialogue with those affected by the transatlantic slave trade. 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."
