British people can’t be made to pay for the wrongs of slavery – but we must confront our complicated history | Andy Burnham

On 28 October 1787, Thomas Clarkson pushed through the crowds to reach the pulpit of Manchester Cathedral. A campaigner for abolishing slavery, he spoke urgently about the horrors of the slave trade and the humanity of enslaved people. “He drinks the cup of sorrow,” Clarkson said. “And he drinks it at our hands.”

During Black History Month, these are the stories it is important to remember. They show us the complicated truth of our history. Thousands of people in Manchester signed a petition against slavery after Clarkson’s sermon. And yet Manchester’s cotton industry was built on the labour of enslaved people. There are similar stories up and down the nation. We are a country where brave people led the way in abolishing slavery, but we are also a country that participated in the trade in human lives.

The transatlantic slave trade was a brutal and barbaric violation of those people. They were denied their humanity. They were separated from their families, treated as property and worked to their deaths. I want to express my sorrow and regret for the pain and suffering of so many millions of people, and to recognise the way it still shapes our world today.

Our history is intertwined with countries that are now our allies, particularly in the Commonwealth. Next week, I will attend the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm). In an increasingly divided and dangerous world, our family of nations in the Commonwealth is vital to our interests: a beacon of stability, strength and security. Together we can face down shared challenges. We can seize opportunities for trade and economic collaboration. We can strengthen our respective countries and share our values to build a safer world for us all.

But facing a changing world together requires us to stand on firm foundations. To meet those challenges of the future, we need to face up to the past. For years, those members of the Commonwealth affected by the slave trade have asked for an honest conversation about the legacies of slavery. By sticking our heads in the sand, we have damaged the ability of the Commonwealth to function.

Having these difficult conversations to safeguard the Commonwealth for the future is the right thing to do. It is also the patriotic thing to do. Not just because it is in our interests, but because the Britain I believe in is confident, decent and brave. We led the world in abolishing slavery – and we can show leadership again today.

So we are offering a structured dialogue with those affected by the transatlantic slave trade. Listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state will form an important part of this process, and I am open to them.

Some have called for financial reparations for the slave trade. I do not believe that is the right answer. I do not think that British people today can be held liable for historical wrongs, however heinous, that happened in a different age under different laws and in which they played no personal part.

My focus is on building a future where people at home and abroad live in greater peace and prosperity.

So we will bring to the Chogm our determination to tackle the issues that affect people across our Commonwealth family and beyond.

Today, debt-servicing costs in the poorest and most vulnerable countries are at their highest in more than 25 years. More than 40% of these countries spend more on interest repayments than on health. I want to launch a new drive on debt, working with our global partners to help those countries repay over a longer time period and with better rates. That is why the chancellor, foreign secretary and I have asked Gordon Brown, who will join us at the Chogm, to help with this work.

We will also support the energy transition in the face of the climate crisis. And we will build on the incredible work being done to educate women and girls, give smaller countries a louder voice on the world stage, and end global poverty and inequality.

I want us to build stronger relationships with each other and renew the relevance of the Commonwealth in a new era. We do that by facing our past together and focusing on a future where every person living within it has equality, security and hope.

We stand on the shoulders of those such as Thomas Clarkson and the many ordinary people who spoke out for justice and humanity.

In 1862, at the height of the American civil war, Manchester was the cotton capital of the world. In a vote at the Free Trade Hall, the humble cotton workers resolved that they would no longer handle slave-picked cotton. Their actions helped end the civil war, prompting Abraham Lincoln to write to them praising their “sublime Christian heroism”.

It is so often the case in British history that huge injustices ignored by the powers-that-be are eventually overturned by ordinary people. Those Manchester cotton workers represent that proud British tradition, and I will take inspiration from them as we go forward into our new dialogue.

• Andy Burnham is prime minister of the United Kingdom