Andy Burnham has given reparations campaigners exactly what they wanted – and Britain could pay the price

There’s one thing Andy Burnham could do that would make him a 100 per cent better Prime Minister – and that’s to Shut The Hell Up!!!

Because every time this ludicrous People Pleaser opens his mouth – he puts his big clog in it. Only this time the repercussions of it are being felt around the world.

Because this week’s Big Mouth Blunder could end up costing skint Britain billions, if not trillions, in reparations after Burnham - who in the past has been clear that living British citizens should not be held legally liable or responsible for crimes committed centuries ago – has done yet another screaming U-turn and blurted out that he might, after all, be "open to apologising" for Britain’s role in the slave trade."

What in God’s name would he be apologising for - something that happened hundreds of years ago and has nothing whatsoever to do with anyone who’s alive now?

We can’t apologise for our history or the sins of our forefathers because we played no part in them. Yes, we can express regret, but we can’t apologise for something we had no control over. It’s a farcical idea.

And why should he be apologising for a trade that, as horrific as it was, was perfectly legal at the time and engaged in by countries all over the world?

Why should he apologise for a trade that Britain stamped out in 1803 and actually went to war to end?

Up to 17,000 of our sailors - members of the West Africa Squadron set up to suppress the transatlantic slave trade – died trying to end this barbaric practice.

The fact is, Britain bore a massive financial and human toll to suppress the trade globally. In 1830, our Government spent a staggering £20million - the equivalent today of £17billion and, at the time, 40 per cent of the Government’s annual budget - setting slaves free from their wealthy owners. It’s a fact the reparation zealots refuse to acknowledge.

They also ignore the fact that in the 50 years following the abolition of slavery, the British government spent as much on the suppression of the transatlantic slave trade as merchants had earned in the previous 50 years.

Does Andy Burnham know any of this do you think? Or, in yet another desperate attempt to burnish his Mr Nice Guy credentials, he’s just opening his ill-informed mouth and causing havoc?

Because what he’s done here is show weakness, which is exactly what he was infamous for, and what defined him, last time he was in Government.

Because those reparation junkies currently hounding poor King Charles on his Caribbean tour and screaming for trillions aren’t doing it to those African countries and states that participated in slavery way more aggressively than Britain ever did.

They’re not saying it to all those Islamic countries who bought slaves 250 years ago and are still doing it today. No, they’re saying it to Britain, which they see as a soft touch, not least because it has a leader they see as weak and who loves to self-flagellate.

They see Burnham as a man so naïve, so stupid that he can be exploited and hoodwinked.

And so, by stupidly declaring he’s "open" to making an apology, our Blabbermouth Prime Minister has played into their hands and emboldened those cynical, exploitative Caribbean chancers ( leaders) to the point where they think they’re now entitled to trillions for the "sins" perpetrated against their ancestors.

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They see what Burnham has said as the Green Light for reparations:

"No British Prime Minister has gone this far," said St Lucia’s Prime Minister, Phillip J Pierre.

Damn right they haven’t because no British Prime Minister has ever been as stupid, naïve and loose-lipped as Andy Burnham.

Because his statement won’t just embolden Caribbean countries to go for full-on reparations; it’ll make countries all over the Commonwealth do the same. And one UN judge has put the figure on what’s owed at £18trillion – which is SIX times our national debt.

But worse, rumours of Burnham’s spinelessness and his stupidity will now ring out all over the world (not least inside the EU) so that leaders everywhere will think Britain’s Prime Minister isn’t just a soft touch but a bit of an unthinking idiot as well.

Trump was right when he wrote Burnham off as "just a town mayor" because that’s exactly what he still is. And let’s not forget cack- handed Andy wasn’t even much cop as a mayor because left the Greater Manchester Combined Authority with a £1.5billion debt - the biggest of any council authority in the country.

Burnham’s also said that, as well as being open to formally apologising for our role in the slave trade, he also hopes to restructure debt for the poorest Commonwealth countries.

Is he bloody joking? He can’t restructure or deal with Britain’s £3trillion debt, let alone anyone else’s.

"I want to express my sorrow and regret," he said. Well, he can do that without exposing us to trillions in reparations, claims which could drag on for decades.

In saying he is open to an apology, he has conceded the principle and is making us liable for money we don’t have and certainly don’t owe.

And he couldn’t have said what he’s said at a worse time because his idiotic comments come just before he jets off to Antigua and Barbuda this week to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting where he will be asked to make good on his "sorrow and regret". So, God only knows what he’ll promise under pressure. The man simply can’t be trusted and is way too dim to be a player on the world stage.

Yes, the slave trade was an abomination. Yes, it was wrong. But at the time it was a legal practice that almost every civilisation in the world engaged in.

But West Africa, Islamist countries and other Western nations with their own legacies of slavery are never subjected to the same level of moral scrutiny or demands for endless apologies. Why?

Because they’d tell those opportunist chancers bleating for reparations to do one.

Which is what Burnham should have done instead of laying bare his bleeding heart!