Andy Burnham set to hand Caribbean nations £40m as Prime Minister pushed to apologise for slave trade

Andy Burnham is set to hand Caribbean nations a whopping £40million for projects just as the Prime Minister is pushed to apologise for the slave trade.

Mr Burnham travelled to Antigua yesterday for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where he will pledge the funds for schemes across the region.

The Prime Minister will lay out strategies to assist poorer member states with debt as well - while Britain's debt mounts to £3billion as of September.

Over the weekend, Mr Burnham admitted he was contemplating offering an apology on behalf of Britain's involvement in the historic trade.

Several of his MPs have already pushed for him to do so, including Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who claimed an apology would assist the UK with "building stronger relationships" with the countries.

However, No10 has ruled out paying reparations directly, while Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, cautioned against issuing an apology at all.

GB News understands the Government will not be making further aid allocation on top of existing budgets.

Shabana Mahmood hits back at claim Labour rebels forced £10billion immigration climbdown

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has hit back at the suggestion she was forced to cave to rebels on the Labour Left following her reforms to indefinite leave to remain.

Ms Mahmood, who was accused of watering down her proposals, told GB News that the changes represented a "transformative package" despite concessions made following a consultation process.

After being asked if pressure from the Left forced her to scrap plans for care workers to wait for 15 years for permanent residency, Ms Mahmood said: "No, look, I disagree. I think this is a transformative package.

"It's a wholesale change for the terms on which people can get settlement in this country."

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Andy Burnham unveils £700m plan to drive re-industrialisation in fresh devolution push

Andy Burnham has launched a £700million package to accelerate reindustrialisation across the UK as part of his latest devolution drive.

The Strategic Sites Accelerator will deploy public capital to revive up to 10 major industrial and commercial developments that have stalled despite being commercially sound and backed by strong investor interest.

The programme targets up to £2billion in private-sector funding and could generate tens of thousands of jobs over time, according to Labour

Regional mayors and council leaders will be central to the initiative, tasked with pinpointing investment opportunities in their areas.

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