The Commonwealth is not only a testimony to our past greatness, but an acknowledgement by its 53 member states (51 of which were at one time or another part of the former British Empire) of the high regard they have for Britain and British values.
Their choice of the Prince of Wales to succeed the Queen as Head of The Commonwealth only serves to underline that fact.
The Commonwealth is still going strong 88 years after its founding in 1931 (although the organisation we know today dates from 1949) – making it one of the world’s oldest political association of states.
Far from having ‘hardly any geopolitical role or relevance and being a large and somewhat anomalous club – devoting most of its energies to maintaining its strange existence’ (to paraphrase The Economist’s James Astill) – the Commonwealth has been, and will be, hopefully for generations to come, a force for good and the promotion of civilised values throughout the world.
Bob Readman, Bournemouth
