Caribbean forum with leaders of the nations most affected by slavery’s legacy next year.   11:47Eleni Courea Businesses that import critical minerals to the UK will be given access to state-backed loans in a move to counter China’s dominance in the market.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged Commonwealth leaders to focus on 'looking forwards, not back' amid growing calls for financial compensation for slavery and Britain's colonial past

Robert Jenrick has piled in on the row after a Whitehall source suggested the PM could sign up to a pro-reparations communique.

Sir Keir Starmer has stared down calls for the United Kingdom to pay reparations for its historical involvement in the slave trade, insisting the Commonwealth should instead be "facing forward" together.

Sir Keir Starmer has rejected calls for reparations by insisting the UK is “looking forward rather than looking backwards”. The Prime Minister will make history tomorrow when he becomes the first UK leader to visit a Pacific Island nation. He attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa alongside The King.

Sir Keir Starmer has sparked a row at the heart of the Labour Party after senior figures urged him to rethink his decision to rule out reparations for Britain’s role in the slave trade. The prime minister flew into a diplomatic storm with Caribbean leaders over the issue at a summit in Samoa – and drew condemnation from his own MPs back in Britain.

Sir Keir Starmer has confronted calls for the UK to pay reparations for its historical part in the slave trade while surrounded by Commonwealth leaders. Speaking at an executive session of a Commonwealth summit in Samoa,

Sir Keir Starmer was last night urged to 'stand firm' on demands to pay reparations for slavery amid fears he could buckle under pressure from Commonwealth leaders and his own MPs.