The Modern Commonwealth: Opportunities and Challenges

Richard Graham Excerpts

Thursday 7th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)]

It is a privilege to be the tail-end Charlie in this debate on the Commonwealth on its 70th anniversary, with the UK in the chair and only a day or two before Commonwealth Day. The theme during the UK’s period in the chair has been a connected Commonwealth. I hope that one thing that will come out of this debate is that we will all feel more connected to this place, and indeed to all places, because this Chamber, which was rebuilt after the war, in 1950, has benefited hugely from the contributions of individual Commonwealth members. Let me highlight some of them.

Given that Australia’s former Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, was in this Chamber yesterday, it is worth starting with the Speaker’s Chair in which you are sitting, Mr Deputy Speaker. It is made of blackbean wood—or Moreton Bay chestnut—from Ravenshoe in northern Queensland, and it was made by H. H. Martyn and Co in my neighbouring constituency of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, as were the Dispatch Boxes in front of the Minister and her Opposition counterpart. They are made from puriri wood from New Zealand. The chairs at the Clerks’ Table are, or were, from South Africa. They were made from blank stinkwood. The Table is in Canadian oak and was made by the Globe Furniture Company in Ontario. The south entrance door is of English oak but was the gift of Pakistan.

There are contributions from almost all the other Commonwealth nations, either in this Chamber or just outside it. They include mayflower wood from Belize, silver gilt inkstands from Bermuda and a silver gilt ashtray from Botswana. Those gifts came from all over the world to the mother of all Parliaments, and it is striking that many of them are in the woods of those Commonwealth nations. The woods from Africa include gold walnut from Sierra Leone, iroko wood from elsewhere in Africa and mvule from Uganda. All the designs were put together by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, but it was the generosity of other Commonwealth nations that helped to resurrect our own Chamber. It is poignant today to look at the silver gilt inkstands with stationery racks, which are in front of the Minister. They were a gift of Zimbabwe, a nation that is currently outside the Commonwealth. That fact is a source of huge disappointment to the many of us who had hoped for successful untarnished elections last year as the gateway to re-entry. Alas, it was not to be, and we all hope that things will improve there.

I turn from heritage to the present day. It is particularly appropriate for this debate to be on the same day as our International Women’s Day debate, given that the first and most important goal of our chairmanship of the Commonwealth is to ensure that by 2030 its members provide 12 years of quality education for girls. It is worth highlighting the other three goals. The UK is making great progress with the Commonwealth blue charter, particularly around Ascension Island. My right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Sir Hugo Swire) has referred to harnessing trade and investment, and to the work of the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council; 8% of our trade is with the Commonwealth. Lastly, on cyber-security co-operation, the UK has pledged to fund 10 national cyber-security reviews by next year. That is vital for all members of the Commonwealth.

Other work is being done. My hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Jeremy Lefroy) has played a key role in the anti-malaria campaign, which is funded not least by generous charities such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Members of the royal family have done much to support other initiatives, such as Commonwealth scholars and the work of the Royal Commonwealth Society, which—here I declare an interest—supported the all-party group for the Commonwealth, which I founded a few years ago. It still works very closely with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. My hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), who has done so much in the CPA along with our colleagues the hon. Member for City of Durham (Dr Blackman-Woods) and the right hon. Member for Delyn (David Hanson), is leading progress on that.

I want to touch on the contribution of accountable parliamentary democracies to the Commonwealth. Finding out what more can be done to strengthen that is the overriding aim and ambition of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, which I currently have the privilege of chairing. Democracy is having a rocky time globally. The rise of populism and nationalism, the vagaries of climate change, volatile governance and far too much civil conflict have caused huge dislocation of populations. Alongside more sophisticated technology for rigging elections, there is a greater questioning of democratic government than perhaps there has been at any point in our lifetime. There is a temptation to believe that single-party autocratic regimes could be a way forward.

All democracies, whether they were planted 1,000 years ago or 10 years ago, are fragile plants. They need careful nurturing. The UK’s democratic constant gardener is the WFD, which is funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development. Both are admirably represented by the Minister, who has been very supportive of the work of the foundation. We focus on advancing inclusive and accountable democracy. The Commonwealth partnership for democracy—the CP4D, as it is known—which includes several bodies, is helping to bring democracies alive by making them more representative, with more women, more young people, more people with disabilities and more religious minorities. Those are things that autocracies can never offer. I went to a conference in Kuala Lumpur last month, and it was brilliant; there was, I think, also one in Fiji last month; and there was another one in Uganda last week. Those things are making a real difference. Further Government support for the Commonwealth can only help to nurture democracy in one of the most special networks in the world.