Sir Keir Starmer has sparked a row at the heart of the Labour Party after senior figures urged him to rethink his decision to rule out reparations for Britain’s role in the slave trade. The prime minister flew into a diplomatic storm with Caribbean leaders over the issue at a summit in Samoa – and drew condemnation from his own MPs back in Britain.

Commonwealth leaders are reportedly preparing to defy the UK and agree plans to examine reparations for the transatlantic slave trade. It comes despite Downing Street’s insistence that the issue of reparations is not on the agenda for this week’s ...