Prime Minister's staggering naivety has left Charles in a diplomatic quagmire, says ex-diplomat Ameer Kotecha

Andy Burnham, always so keen to genuflect and emote, may have found that shooting from the hip worked as mayor of Manchester. But, as Prime Minister, he risks pulling the rug out from underneath the King.By dangling the prospect of an official Government apology for slavery, he faces embarrassing the monarch who has already heavily hinted that there won’t be one.The Prime Minister’s decision to depart from long-standing British government policy threatens to unleash all manner of consequences that bumbling Burnham clearly has barely thought about.His intervention through an article in The Guardian on Friday will surely have surprised Buckingham Palace. The timing couldn’t have been worse, as the King is already in the middle of his important nine-day tour of the Caribbean, which includes the Commonwealth summit where Burnham will join him.The visit is a diplomatic assault course as it is, which King Charles has navigated deftly, but his Prime Minister has just placed a quagmire in front of him.Having expressed sorrow for slavery, while not offering a formal apology, the King’s speech on Tuesday to the Commonwealth Heads of Government may have to be hastily rewritten. Andy Burnham attends a meeting of the National Economic Council in Glasgow on October 30This has all the hallmarks of a No10 communications cock-up, which seems to be a common occurrence under Burnham who is breezily oblivious that the words of a prime minister matter.And having spent over a decade in the Foreign Office, let me tell you: there will be consequences to an apology for slavery.It is not merely an expression of regret. It acknowledges historical wrongdoing and responsibility and will thus have significant diplomatic implications.It will open a Pandora’s Box, which could even lead to legal liability to pay financial reparations.It’s all very well Burnham saying that us handing over cash is not on the cards. But the ‘structured dialogue’ and openness to an apology that he is offering will only give added impetus to the absurd reparations movement. And we know from the Chagos debacle how beholden Starmer, and now Burnham, are to international lawyers.If the Government thinks an apology will put an end to the matter, it’s in for a rude shock. Caricom, the alliance of Caribbean nations, regards an apology as only the beginning. Its ten-point plan demands monetary compensation – and it has suggested trillions of pounds – not to mention the cancellation of all of its bilateral debt with Europe, the return of cultural artefacts and much more. King Charles III views exhibits as he attends the Global Biodiversity Alliance Conference in GuyanaWhere does this end? What other historic injustices will pressure groups seek compensation for?Back in March, when a landmark slavery resolution was brought before the United Nations, the UK abstained rather than vote against it.Instead of pointing out that almost every civilisation in history has engaged in slavery, and that we were not unique in our part in this horror, we were mealy-mouthed and resorted to legal gymnastics.We must stand up for ourselves. We should be proudly talking about Britain’s leading role in abolishing the slave trade. The thousands of sailors in the Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron who lost their lives liberating slave ships. The millions of ordinary Britons – estimated at up to a third of adult men – who signed petitions demanding abolition. We are forever expected to inherit the guilt, but never the good.Indeed, historians have estimated that Britain spent as much on its diplomatic and military campaign to end the slave trade as British merchants earned from it. We have amply paid our debt.And why are we alone asked to apologise, and not the African kingdoms or the Arab world that practiced slavery and indeed often resisted when we tried to abolish it?The Ghanian president, who is one of those leading the campaign for British reparations, and the Commonwealth Secretary-General (herself Ghanian) are both curiously quiet about the Asante kingdom, in modern day Ghana, that enthusiastically used and traded slaves.But staying quiet is not something Burnham can do when there is virtue to signal. He may have limitless faith in his charm and see this trip as a chance to show off his emotional intelligence. But he is laying bare his diplomatic inexperience.There is a fine line between statesmanship and self-flagellation, which Burnham is determined to cross.The PM may think he is extending an olive branch and merely offering contrition. Others will see it as the first instalment of a cripplingly expensive settlement.For once you have conceded the principle then comes negotiating the price. And heaven knows we can scarcely afford it.Ameer Kotecha is the CEO of the Centre for Government Reform. He was formerly a senior British diplomat.Read More: Burnham slave trade pledge sparks new reparations row for King CharlesChurch leaders determined to splurge £100m is King's biggest headache