Miliband blames Blair for anger over slavery

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Speaking at the Commonwealth summit in Antigua, he blamed Tony Blair for the previous attitude when he was prime minister.

But Mr Miliband continued to insist that the “new approach” to the issue championed by Andy Burnham would not cost the British state any money.

He accused previous governments of trying to “sweep under the carpet” Britain’s historic involvement in the slave trade and criticised Mr Blair for what he described as a “sorry not sorry” non-apology in 2006.

Sir Tony “did sort of do a kind of sorry not sorry situation,” the Foreign Secretary said, adding: “He sort of, yeah, he kind of expressed sorrow, and then said sorry, and then it was walked back by No 10.”

There has been no love lost between Mr Miliband and the former prime minister for years, since Sir Tony saw Mr Miliband as moving away from the New Labour playbook when he served as Labour leader.

But Mr Miliband stressed that the new approach would not come with cash recompense for the evil.

“It’s not for us. It’s not the right answer. It’s not practical. It’s not feasible for us, but there are things we can work on co-operatively,” he waffled.

The British government will now consult with Commonwealth countries on the precise wording of the formal apology for slavery, which it is expected that it may issue sometime next year.

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