countries will defy the uk at the commonwealth summit in samoa. on track for catastrophe — the un warns we're missing the targets for tackling global warming. former uk nurse and convicted baby killer lucy letby loses her latest bid to appeal against one of her convictions. and marry like royals! balmoral estate plans to become a for—hire wedding venue. hello. iam ben i am ben brown, welcome to bbc news. commonwealth leaders are preparing to defy the uk at their summit by agreeing to look at ways of getting financial compensation for

the transatlantic slave trade. the british prime minister sir kier starmer says the issue is not on the agenda for the summit of commonwealth nations in samoa. the issue of reparations could potentially leave the uk not only apologising for its part in the slave trade, but also owing huge amounts of money. king charles and queen camilla are present for the commonwealth heads of government meeting. the couple will complete a day of engagements before meeting with commonwealth leaders at the end of the week. a brief bit of context here. the commonwealth of nations, oftenjust known as the commonwealth, is an international group of 56 member states, mostly former territories of the british empire from which it developed. british governments of the past, and members of the royal family, participated in the slave trade over several centuries alongside other european nations. it saw millions of africans transported around the world to work on slave plantations in the united states and the caribbean.

in recent times there have been calls for reparations potentially worth billions or even trillions of pounds, or at least a symbolic apology. those calls have been rejected by current and former uk governments. frederick mitchell is the foreign minister of the bahamas and spoke to the bbc earlier this morning. i think at the moment caricom countries want the conversation to start about it. there appears to be even a reluctance to have the conversation start. many of the institutions in the uk have already conceded the point of apology, the british government isn't quite there. but at this time the discussion needs to be had about the history of this and the ill effects of what happened after slavery was abolished which continue to affect our societies today. our political editor, chris mason, has travelled to samoa with the prime minister and is following the row over whether reparatoryjustice for slavery should be part of the commonwealth heads of government meeting. the prime minister had only

been here a matter of hours and this row about reparations compensation for the slave trade has blown up here. we've had a couple of senior members of the government of the bahamas talking publicly about it already. the argument from them and others is that countries that see themselves as victims of the slave trade should, firstly, get an apology for it, and, secondly, should get money, should get compensation for it. now, on the way out here, the 28 hour shlep on the plane, the prime minister was really clear. he said the uk was not going to say sorry and was not going to talk about reparations. he wanted to talk about the future as opposed to talking about the past. plenty of commonwealth countries, an organisation made up primarily of countries that used to be in the british empire, do want that conversation to continue. and the bbc has revealed that the draft summit conclusions do refer to that conversation continuing into the future.

so that is going to happen, i think, whether the prime minister likes it or not. chris mason, our political editor. chris mason, our political editor. joining me now is uk labour party mp clive lewis, who's a descendant of enslaved people and a campaigner for reparatory justice for the carribean. clive lewis, thank you for being with us. tell us exactly what you mean by reparations. what do you want to see from the british government? first of all, a couple _ the british government? first of all, a couple of _ the british government? first of all, a couple of things - the british government? first of all, a couple of things i - of all, a couple of things i want to pick up on. this notion that the sovereign countries have defied britain, that in and of itself is a kind of editor realisation. they are not defying anyone. they are nations who have an equal seat at the table of the so—called commonwealth. i think the reality is, and most of these countries understand this, it is not a commonwealth. before

100 years, britain like other countries, extracted great wealth notjust in slavery, but from the post—colonial period. to hear keir starmer, my prime minister, talk about we only want to talk about the future, while to understand and have any context of the future, you have to understand the present and to understand the present you need to understand the past because that shows why we are aware we are and you can then only talk about the future. caribbean countries in particular have been driving this. they have a ten point plan and first on that plan is an apology. now, there is no court in the world that is going to make britain pay up and i don't think anyone expects britain to be caught in some kind of legal trap if it entered into an apology and a national conversation about where structural racism comes from, about these countries, many of whom are in deep debt and facing a climate crisis. they are in debt because when britain gave them their independence and left them, it

left them with absolutely nothing. that debt was to build basic infrastructure across the caribbean, education, roads, airports, ports and they had to borrow and that is why they are so much in debt now. that is having an impact on how they prepare for the climate crisis which will hit them disproportionately. let me interrupt — disproportionately. let me interrupt you _ disproportionately. let me interrupt you a _ disproportionately. let me interrupt you a moment. l disproportionately. let me interrupt you a moment. i | disproportionately. let me - interrupt you a moment. i think you said, correct me if i'm wrong, we are not talking about cold, hard cash here. there was one report that said britain should pay something like £18 trillion in reparations for slavery. i trillion in reparations for slavery-— trillion in reparations for slave . ~ ., slavery. i think money and compensation _ slavery. i think money and compensation is _ slavery. i think money and compensation is clearly i slavery. i think money and compensation is clearly on slavery. i think money and - compensation is clearly on the agenda. i think the starting point, i am talking about this conference, and what will be in the communique which is what we are talking about at the moment. no one is talking about money at the moment in terms of the communique, they are talking about the start of a conversation. when you have an argument with a partner and you have done something wrong, if you want to move forward, the first thing the person who has

done something wrong is apologise. it has to be more than lip service, it has to be a heartfelt apology, understanding what has gone on and what has happened and then you can begin a conversation about how you rectify that. let's talk about how you do rectify that. in the long term what are you talking about in terms of financial conversation? ., . ., conversation? the caricom organisation _ conversation? the caricom organisation has _ conversation? the caricom organisation has been - conversation? the caricom organisation has been veryi organisation has been very clear, this will be cultural issues, education issues and economic issues and also helping these countries prepare for the climate crisis which is now upon them. i know there is talk about green finance and islands have been offered green finance, the bridgetown initiative. these go so far but the reality is many of these islands are paying twice as much in debt repayments as they are receiving in green finance funding. so clearly something has to happen. it could be debt forgiveness but that does not

go far enough because many of these islands are quite clear, they will end up back where they will end up back where they are unless there is resource put into them. they will argue there is a social, economic and political reality to britain beginning the conversation to talk about how it pays back in some way the vast wealth it has sucked from these countries, continues to suck from them in the finance and banking sector, how can we begin to do what is right? it i begin to do what is right? if i can ut begin to do what is right? if i can put this _ begin to do what is right? if i can put this to you, the argument against this is why should the government of today, duly elected, pay for crimes as you would see them of governments of the past, of centuries ago?— governments of the past, of centuries ago? because they are not paying _ centuries ago? because they are not paying for— centuries ago? because they are not paying for crimes _ centuries ago? because they are not paying for crimes of - not paying for crimes of centuries ago. let's be clear, reparations were paid, they were probably paid in today's money something like £400 million to people who owned the slaves, the slaves got nothing. the debt on that payment, which was about a quarter percent of

the uk's government expenditure, was only finished being paid in 2015. that means you and we were paying that off, ben. that is an issue for today. the caribbean as part of the commonwealth, we talk about being a country that believes in social and economicjustice, in social and economicjustice, in fairness and justice, so i think it is imperative if we want to play our part in making sure that we do our bit for countries that have given so much to this country, that have helped build the wealth of this country, is it not right that we do something to help them? it doesn't have to break the bank or the country, it can be over a long period of time. but when we think about what we have taken from these countries and continue to take, those countries are saying it is time for britain, the sixth richest country in the world to do something to help us. i am really clear. my constituents, many of them will be cold and are using food banks, they should not be paying a penny towards this. there are

corporations, financial institutions, rich and wealthy people, who can be contributing far more than they currently are to making sure that we live in a fairerworld. are to making sure that we live in a fairer world. i think they should be doing that and i think if keir starmer is going to come back and talk about, as he did in the king's speech, and equalities bill to try and tackle amongst other things structural racism, then how can you do that without talking about the genesis of where racism comes from in this country? that to me seems quite bizarre. i am country? that to me seems quite bizarre. iam hoping he will listen and there will be a conversation on this issue. clive lewis, thank you for being with us on bbc news. good to talk to you. as we mentioned the summit is taking place in samoa, a pacific island nation made up of nine islands with a population ofjust 218,000 people. and its low lying islands like this that could be partly or wholly submerged by rising sea levels. so some commonwealth nations — while unsympathetic towards the british position — want the summit to focus more on existing challenges

such as climate change. a new report from the fossil fuel non—proliferation treaty initiative highlights that fossil fuels extracted from australia, canada and the uk were responsible for 60% of emissions generated across commonwealth countries since 1990, even though they represent only 6% of the commonwealth s population. tuvalu s prime minister had a stark warning and plea to these nations. to put it plainly, it is a death sentence, not a phrase that i use lightly. the wealthiest commonwealth countries have historically benefited disproportionately from fossil fuel development. it is their duty, in my respectful view, to take the lead in financing a just and equitable global energy

transition. the gap between the emissions cuts needed to limit global warming and the actual progress being made has been laid bare in a new report. the un environment programme says the world is currently on track for temperature rises between 2.6 and 3.1 degrees celsius, depending on how much of the currently promised climate action is delivered. remember, countries agreed to pursue efforts to curb temperaure rises to 1.5c above pre—industrial levels and well below 2 degrees at the paris climate talks in 2015. the warning comes ahead of this year's un cop 29 talks in fossil fuel—rich azerbaijan. un secretary—general antonio guterres has said the is already paying a terrible price because of climate change. let's speak to our climate correspondent matt mcgrath.

bring us up to date with this latest warning.— latest warning. the un emissions _ latest warning. the un emissions gap - latest warning. the un emissions gap report l latest warning. the un | emissions gap report is latest warning. the un i emissions gap report is in latest warning. the un - emissions gap report is in its 15th year and highlights the difference between where the world needs to be to keep temperatures under that 1.5 and under 2 degrees, as agreed at the paris agreement, and where we really are. what we have seenin we really are. what we have seen in the last year in 2023 is a take up those emissions. emissions have grown globally ijy emissions have grown globally by 1.3%. emissions have grown globally by1.3%. it emissions have grown globally by 1.3%. it doesn't sound like a lot but compared to the previous decade it is considerably more. we have seen people returning to the skies and taking two aeroplanes and flying. aviation has increased. people are using their cars more and we have seen industry mmp more and we have seen industry ramp up its use of carbon as well. taken altogether the un environment programme says we are well on track for the paris agreement and it will need a herculean effort to bring those emissions down over the next ten years or so to where they need to be to keep those temperature thresholds in sight. b, temperature thresholds in siuht. �* ., ., temperature thresholds in siuht. ., ., , ,, ., sight. a lot of pressure on the next kon _ sight. a lot of pressure on the next kop summit _ sight. a lot of pressure on the next kop summit to _ sight. a lot of pressure on the next kop summit to come - sight. a lot of pressure on the next kop summit to come up| sight. a lot of pressure on the - next kop summit to come up with some sort of new action plan i

suppose? some sort of new action plan i sunpose?_ some sort of new action plan i su..ose?,,, , suppose? absolutely, as there is with every — suppose? absolutely, as there is with every cop. _ suppose? absolutely, as there is with every cop. there - suppose? absolutely, as there is with every cop. there are i suppose? absolutely, as there is with every cop. there are a l is with every cop. there are a number of factors complicating the picture. as well as people using their cars more and flying more, other things are happening. the impacts of climate change are making the world warmer and people are using more air conditioning. it is having