None of us can change the past.. but we can commit to right inequalities that endure

'Harmony' appeal to Commonwealth | Starmer focus on 'looking forward'

- RUSSELL MYERS and LIZZY BUCHAN

THE King said "none of us can change the past" amid growing calls for reparations for Britain's role in the slave trade.

But Charles said he had come to recognise how historical wrongs can still have an impact on people in Commonwealth nations.

He told the leaders of the 56 member countries: "Our cohesion requires that we acknowledge where we have come from.

"I understand, from listening to people across the Commonwealth, how the most painful aspects of our past continue to resonate.

"It is vital that we understand our history - to guide us to make the right choices in the future."

He added: "We can commit with all our hearts to learning its lessons.

"Where inequalities exist, for example, in access to opportunity, to education, to skills training, to employment, to health and to a planet in whose climate our human race can both survive and thrive, we must find the right ways, and the right language, to address them."

Charles, 75, was making his first speech as monarch at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa.

He was joined by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is resisting calls for Britain to make any reparations.