Commonwealth

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Thursday 30th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB)]

My Lords, the House of Lords would not be the House of Lords without a debate on the Commonwealth, and perhaps vice versa: the Commonwealth seems to need people like us to restate and support its aims and objectives. It is not a very visible organisation; it does not set out to proclaim its importance. In fact, the media are not kind to it: I had high hopes of reading a report in the FT, but I still cannot find one. My noble friend Lord McDonald has explained why the communiqué has taken so long. However, this debate has more than compensated for that.

Having heard and learned from the noble Lord, Lord Howell, on various occasions, I do not personally need any more convincing of the value of the Commonwealth. He rightly refers to connectivity and informality, and I understand the arguments put forward by my noble friend Lady D’Souza about soft power and quiet diplomacy, but surely the Commonwealth could sharpen up its act a little and explain to the world what it is about?

We have heard a lot about the Commonwealth’s successes, but the principal success story is quite clear: the contribution of Her Majesty the Queen. Her role has been properly recognised through the Jubilee and, above all, from her own remarkable performance as an individual as well as a monarch. Where would the Commonwealth be without her? I therefore personally expect, and indeed look forward to, a more piano contribution from the UK in future. It was an enterprise started by this country—as the noble Lord, Lord Parekh, reminded us—but I see no reason why the UK should not retire a little more from the stage and encourage others to come forward. I am sure that the reappointment of the secretary-general will assist in that process. Prince Charles himself set the tone when a new Head of State replaced the Queen in Barbados last November; he said it was “a new beginning” and acknowledged the appalling atrocity of slavery. Anti-racism and decolonisation are rightly going to be continuing themes.

I also agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Helic, that we must see more effort from the Commonwealth on human rights and governance. This is the Minister’s proper area of responsibility, so could we do more about this? Will quiet bilateral diplomacy or a new trade agreement ever be enough, for example, to change Prime Minister Modi’s discrimination against minorities and the media in India? The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Guildford has spoken on Pakistan in this respect.

Human Rights and Democracy, the FCDO report published in July 2020, contains some powerful statements of hope, some by the Minister himself in his foreword, which I recently reread. There is a comprehensive list of priority countries, including, I am glad to say, the two Sudans, where the FCDO remains active. I asked the Minister earlier this week whether any African member states were backtracking on issues such as abortion and gay rights, and he replied that

“one important thing about networks such as the Commonwealth is that they allow us to look at a broad range of human rights issues in a progressive and productive way.”—[Official Report, 28/6/22; col. 577.]

Fair enough—not a direct answer, but a very positive one.

Climate change and oceans are issues already pursued by the Commonwealth, but smaller member countries and islands need to take up climate change more aggressively. This is not so much for themselves, since their carbon footprint is in most cases minimal; but for some, climate change is an urgent question, and they need to persuade we larger gas-guzzling nations to take more action in prevention and mitigation. We will have to help pay for this. Australia’s new Prime Minister, as my friend the noble Lord, Lord Goodlad, knows better than any of us, will be bound to help in that operation.

Under Paul Kagame, Rwanda has made great strides since the terrible 1994 massacres, but few are under the illusion that his Government are now squeaky clean; opposition leaders are imprisoned and branded as terrorists. The most prominent case is that of Paul Rusesabagina, who was sentenced to 25 years. Can the Minister say whether the Commonwealth or the FCDO have done anything for him or for human rights in Rwanda? He will already know that 24 human rights agencies have written to Commonwealth leaders asking them to speak up on this issue.

I end with a quotation from a friend who attended CHOGM, who said, “It was wonderful to see African countries taking the lead in Kigali, not least Rwanda but also the new members of Gabon and Togo. The success of the Commonwealth in moving beyond its roots in former colonies depends on the secretariat and its most powerful member counties carefully listening to all members, big and small, and allowing its newer and smaller members to take the lead in equal partnership, not on driving the interests of a few.”