Britain has lost a key battle over reparations as Commonwealth leaders used the group’s summit in Samoa to demand talks on compensation.

The call for “discussions” was included in the gathering’s final communique despite a 48-hour rearguard from UK negotiators.

This comes as a major blow to Sir Keir Starmer, who immediately ruled out paying any kind of cash compensation for Britain’s role in the slave trade.

The communique, signed by all 56 Commonwealth nations, noted “calls for discussions on reparatory justice with regard to the trans-Atlantic trade in enslaved Africans and chattel enslavement”.

It recognised “the importance of this matter to member states of the Commonwealth, the majority of which share common historical experiences in relation to this abhorrent trade”.

According to the statement, member states agreed that “the time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity”.