According to a ABC News wire story, U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said his government will consider apologizing for the first time for its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. ABC News reported that the step is being weighed as the government seeks to strengthen relations with nations in Africa and the Caribbean.

The Guardian, in its live UK politics blog, reported that Burnham wrote ahead of a meeting with Commonwealth leaders that Britain needed to "acknowledge its complicated history." The blog's headline states that a minister said an apology over the historic role in the slave trade would not lead to financial reparations. The Guardian's summary does not name the minister.

The two outlets' accounts differ in emphasis. ABC News's summary describes a possible apology and its link to relations with Africa and the Caribbean but does not mention reparations. The Guardian's headline addresses reparations directly, and the available material does not establish whether the minister's comment and Burnham's statement reflect the same position.

The Guardian's summary also said the blog's Sunday coverage came during budget week, when Tory leader Kemi Badenoch was appearing on political programs and had written an op-ed in the Telegraph addressing delayed defence spending.

Neither source gives a timetable for a decision, describes the form an apology might take, or says which countries the government would consult beyond the Commonwealth meeting. Those details were not reported in the material available for this story.

Sources: ABC News: UK PM signals the government will consider an apology for its role in the slave trade; The Guardian: Minister says UK apology over historic role in slave trade won’t lead to financial reparations - UK politics live.