Last week’s despatch from the BBC’s royal correspondent on the King’s Caribbean tour read like a Buckingham Palace press release. It followed Andy Burnham’s intervention in which he’d described the transatlantic slave trade as a brutal and barbaric violation.

The Prime Minister had added that Britain must face up to its past, and that the Government was open to considering a formal apology on behalf of the British state for its involvement.

The BBC’s report said that this “difficult” history was marked by “a small number of protesters”. However, the King’s schedule had not been disrupted by them and, I suppose, we must all be thankful for that.

The Beeb’s Royal reporter was quick to point out that during the King’s walkabout, “many of the locals” had told him “not to leave it so long to return”. Move along, now; nothing to see here.

Mr Burnham had reassured the British people that if any apology was to be forthcoming, it wouldn’t be accompanied by financial compensation. Good Lord, the very thought of it.

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Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, dutifully pitched in with her own thoughts. Why, lots of other countries benefited from the slave trade, said Ms Badenoch; it wasn’t just us. Plus, Britain had been prominent in bringing it to an end.

And what about those African rulers who had also profited from the trade, she said. And look at what........

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