In the Netherlands many felt the move, while welcome, was mishandled and exclusionary, mirroring past inequality

Andy Burnham’s pledge to seek a “structured dialogue” with former colonies to help shape Britain’s first formal state apology for slavery marks the UK’s first tentative step down a path the Netherlands set out on five years ago.

The prime minister’s attempts to initiate a historic shift alongside the royal family – whose customary expressions of “profound personal sorrow”, falling short of an apology, was repeated by King Charles this week – echo a process begun by the Dutch state in 2021.