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Blair 'sorry' for UK slavery role Blair 'sorry' for UK slavery role
(about 3 hours later)
Tony Blair has said sorry for the slave trade, months after his statement of "deep sorrow" was criticised by some for stopping short of a full apology.Tony Blair has said sorry for the slave trade, months after his statement of "deep sorrow" was criticised by some for stopping short of a full apology.
The prime minister was asked if he was prepared to say "sorry" for the slave trade, following talks with Ghanaian president John Agyekum Kufuor. "I have said we are sorry and I say it again," he said after talks with Ghanaian president John Agyekum Kufuor.
"I have said we are sorry and I say it again," he told reporters. Britain had a "relationship of equals" with countries like Ghana, he said.
Some anti-slavery campaigners had said they wanted Mr Blair to go further after his first statement in November. The most important thing was "to remember what happened in the past, to condemn it and say why it was entirely unacceptable," Mr Blair went on.
On Wednesday, ahead of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade, he said Britain now had a "relationship of equals" with countries like Ghana. Some anti-slavery campaigners had said they wanted Mr Blair to go further ahead of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade, after his first statement in November.
"I think for us the most important thing now is obviously to remember what happened in the past, to condemn it and say why it was entirely unacceptable," he said. His expression of "deep sorrow" for Britain's role in the slave trade was welcomed by some but criticised by others for not going far enough.
His first statement, expressing "deep sorrow" for Britain's role in the slave trade, was welcomed by some but criticised by others for not going far enough.