Tag Archives: the commonwealth

The Commonwealth, reparations and a Liberal Democrat approach

By John Armah | Thu 31st October 2024 - 12:00 pm

As we come to the end of Black History Month, it seems an appropriate time to discuss our party’s policy on the Commonwealth, reparations and the Climate Emergency. With the election of Ghana’s Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey as the new Secretary-General of the Commonwealth,the subject of reparations has risen to the top of the agenda. We should take this time to think about what a Liberal Democrat policy should be.

We should vigorously and vociferously make the case for the Commonwealth.This is personal, my late father served as Ghana’s High Commissioner (Ambassador) to the UK and was charged with removing the newly declared republic from the Commonwealth. He like many others then and now viewed it as a colonial hangover. However, he was persuaded by the Indian Prime Minister and Pakistani President that the body was the only forum where the West and Global South met as equals.

He was persuaded and went on to persuade newly independent countries across the West Indies, Asia and Africa of the merits of joining. He became a leading advocate, opening the Commonwealth Institute in London with the late Queen and co-founding the Africa Centre. It influenced his thinking when he helped establish the African Union. If a man born in a British Colony, who’s grandparents could remember being subjects of an Asante and then a British Emperor believed in the potential of the Commonwealth, we need to think about what it should look like in the twenty-first century.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged climate emergency and reparations | 14 Comments

Vince: The Commonwealth wants us to stay in the EU

By The Voice | Tue 6th November 2018 - 12:30 pm

Last month Vince gave a lecture to the Institute of Commonwealth Studies on the subject of Brexit and how it would affect the Commonwealth.

You know how you get Tory Brexiteers looking to the Commonwealth as a whole new opportunity for us? Well, the commonwealth leaders themselves would prefer we stayed in. Vince pointed out:

The first thing that struck me as I started looking through some of the comments on BREXIT and the Commonwealth was the enormous contrast between the tone of the comments coming from the UK, and particularly from the advocates of BREXIT, and those coming from the Commonwealth governments themselves. I think Patricia Scotland summarised the debate on this subject by saying that most of the Commonwealth leaders were hoping that Britain would stay in. It was very clear, that statement. I suspect she understated the argument but there was a very clear preference that most Commonwealth countries have more influence as a result of being in the European Union than being outside. I contrast that with a strangely, almost euphoric attitude of a lot of people in the UK who see the Commonwealth in terms of a big new opportunity opening up.

So why are commonwealth countries so anxious?