The Commonwealth Conversation

As part of a Channel 4 series called ‘On Tour with The Queen’, presenter Kwame Kwei-Armah has been retracing the steps that The Queen took on her tour of the Commonwealth in 1953. This clip, from the first programme in the series, shows how callers to Jamaica’s famous Breakfast Club radio talkshow with host Professor Trevor Munroe view Jamaica’s relationship with the Queen. The question provoked some surprising results!

Romesh Gunesekera writes in the Guardian of what the Commonwealth means to him. “‘Commonwealth” is not a word I ever used, growing up in Colombo”, he writes.

Kaye Whiteman, a writer and journalist and former Director of Information at the Commonwealth Secretariat says more needs to be done to prevent abuse of media freedoms in the Commonwealth.

Savage, a co-founder of the New Zealand Republican Movement has written the following contribution to the Commonwealth Conversation:

There is a belief perpetuated in Britain and other Commonwealth countries that the British Empire was of benefit to the world. The greed and racism are forgotten. The invasions, wars, political oppression and genocide are downplayed. The poverty and inequality it created are conveniently ignored.

The Commonwealth should take a more active role in supporting and promoting local government. As an organisation it should return to what it does best: fostering partnerships and positive links.

The gender and age breakdowns of our polling make for some interesting reading.

Just as the Crown was essential to the evolution of the world?s most successful system of governance, the Westminster model, so it has been at the very centre of the long evolution of the Commonwealth.

The possibility of a rotating Head has been floated. The opinion polls showed most people in India as many as 50 per cent – favoured that solution. But rotation could create real problems because it would politicise the position. Occasionally a Mandela figure might be available, but such people are a rarity.

Lord Howell, former chairman of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs in the UK Parliament discusses the continued relevance of the Commonwealth to British Foreign Policy

Read Jamaican novelist Leone Ross’s talk about how little the Commonwealth means to her.