Prime Minister Andy Burnham will join King Charles at the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua, BBC News reports. He will begin talks with other leaders about the UK making a formal apology for the slave trade next year.

Leaders from 56 Commonwealth countries are meeting, the BBC says. Downing Street said Burnham would set out plans for what it calls a "debt reset." The aim is to help countries facing growing interest costs on their debts. The Voice reports the plan would be led by former prime minister Gordon Brown.

The UK is likely to apologise formally for the first time next year, when it holds the G20 presidency, the BBC reports. But the government insists it will not pay reparations. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said "we don't believe financial reparations are the right or feasible answer to transatlantic slavery."

Caribbean leaders welcomed the move but want more, The Voice reports. "No British Prime Minister has gone this far before," said Philip J. Pierre, the Saint Lucian prime minister who chairs the CARICOM group. "But an apology without repair is incomplete," he said.

"A dialogue that begins by placing reparations outside the room cannot be a complete dialogue," Pierre added. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley also welcomed Burnham's willingness to talk, The Voice says.

At home, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch urged Burnham not to apologise, the BBC reports. "I don't think that Andy Burnham needs to be apologising because it is a lever to wedge open the door to ask for cash," she said.

No 10 said the UK would also lead two new task forces, the BBC reports. One will look at critical minerals and supply chains. The other aims to boost trade and investment.