The British Government may apologise for the nation's role in the slave trade when the country marks the 200th anniversary next year of the legislation that led to its abolition, a move that has won the support of the churches.

An advisory committee, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, which is overseeing preparations for the bicentenary, is considering issuing "a statement of regret" on March 25, the date the Slave Trade Act was passed by Parliament, as various institutions and cities that benefited from the slave trade have said sorry for their role.

Liverpool issued an apology in 1999. In February the General Synod of the Church of England, which profited from plantations in the West Indies and whose bishops owned slaves, voted to apologise to descendants.

But the professor of philosophy at Birkbeck College, London, A.C. Grayling, who chaired a debate in Bristol this year on whether the city should say sorry for its involvement in the trade, said: "How far should we go back? Should we demand an apology from the Italians for our enslavement by the Roman Empire? It is an absurdity."

The head of the Royal African Society, Richard Dowden, said institutions that directly benefited could usefully issue statements of regret but added: "It would be difficult for us all to apologise."

The General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, Rev Joel Edwards, has responded to the Church of England's statement of apology in February for its previous stance in the slave trade. The EAUK leader commended the comments saying "repentance is a good first step".

The Church of England has apologised for profiting from the "dehumanising and shameful" slave trade, two centuries after its members helped bring about its abolition in Britain.

Rev Edwards, gave his praise to the comments, yet he also stated that the issue should not just be left there. He called for all UK Christians to look to the future and to work together to eradicate any forms of racism and make sure it becomes a thing of the past.

"I tend to feel ambivalent about national apologies. There is a danger that they can become the province of white liberals and black activists. In this case, however, I think the Church of England was right to apologise as long as the issue is not now shelved," said the EAUK General Director.

He added, "Repentance is a good first step, but it is so important that Christians continue to look at positive ways, in consultation with the Churches' Commission for Racial Justice, to fight racism in the future. Actions can not only speak louder, but can make sense of our words."

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual head of the world's 77 million Anglicans, said the church had a duty to share the "shame and sinfulness of our predecessors".