Your link won't work from me so I can't comment fully but what I'd say initially is that what we should be saying is 'we remember.' Not in the fact that we were there, but that we've studied it so we'll remember the horrors and the hope is that we'll learn and change our ways.

No.  After all, I doubt there is a man alive today whose ancestors did not own slaves - regardless of their race, color, or creed.  It is a part of history, and their actions, not of the present and of ours.

While I think that we can feel sympathy for the plight of those who were subject to slavery in the past, feeling "sorry" does nothing but makes us appear foolish and apologetic for something we had nothing to do with.

It's like Pope John Paul II apologizing for all those people the "Holy" Inquisition killed. Nice gesture, I guess, but pretty pointless in the long run.

Absolutely not. I'm English by birth; the slave trade thrived in Britain and was the bedrock of the wealth of major British cities such as Bristol and Liverpool. It's more than likely that my ancestors owned slaves. Am I going to feel responsible for what some long dead ancestor did back in the day? Hell, no.

I find this idea not only ridiculous but offensive. And at a public level, apologies equal the recognition of guilt, and with that recognition comes the probability of demands for compensation. Do you think I'm going to be willing to let some dumbass Black, whose ancestors were either too stupid to run from the slavers, or to fat in the ass to escape them, steal my tax dollars when there are infinitely more important things to spend them on?

As I said before, hell no.

And consider this. As a consequence of the slave trade, the descendants of slaves now live in the wealthiest, most powerful nation on earth and do so as citizens qualified to suck on the public tit till the day they drop dead. Had it not been for the slavers, these whining parasites would be in Africa today - busy starving, or hacking their neighbours apart with machetes. They ought to be on their knees thanking their gods for the fact that their ancestors were slaves, so that their descendants are not forced to live out their useless, greedy lives in that benighted, disease and war ravaged continent.

The link doesn't work for me, either.

Thanks for comments: If the link doesn't work Google Sky News or even better Google Google News UK and read about the Archbishop saying sorry too!

In fact it is the two handred anniversary of William Wilberforn=ce's bill making it illegal for British ships to transport slaves. I think slavery it self remained till 1834 and in USA till 1865.

Interesting question... Not sure what to say about this. The only point of reference I have is with respect to the Aboriginal communities in Australia. But they were never made slaves. We had something far more grand in mind. We had the 'Stolen Generation', where Aboriginal children were taken from their parents to be brought up in white, Christian homes and/or subject to foster care. I must admit I don't know a great deal about it just that it was not a good thing to do.

The Prime Minister refused to say sorry on the first National Sorry Day in 1997. It was his call to make. In this instance, I think he went against popular opinion.

Here is some further info: Link