Following their visit to Australia, the King and Queen are in Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) – the 27th such summit and the first regular meeting since the death of Elizabeth II.
It is also the first at which Charles will attend with the title of head of the Commonwealth, albeit this is a largely nominal role. It is also the first such gathering in one of the smaller Pacific island states, and as such will draw useful, practical attention to the damage that rising sea levels can inflict on such places.
Proceedings should be friendly and consensual, but sometimes CHOGMs also have something more crunchy to chew over, and in this case it may be the issue of reparations for historical crimes by Britain during the slave trade.
What will be the theme?
Officially, the theme of this summit is “One Resilient Common Future: Transforming our Common Wealth”. Fiame Naomi Mataʻafa, the prime minister of Samoa, declares: “We look forward to welcoming the Commonwealth family to our home.”
Representatives of all 56 “independent and equal” nations will attend. Most were once British colonies, protectorates or territories of one sort or another, and 14 retain the British monarch as head of state, but this unique organisation is open to any country that shares its values. The newest members are Gabon and Togo. In total, the Commonwealth is home to 2.5 billion people and comprises prosperous advanced economies such as Singapore and Australia through powerful emerging powers such as India and Nigeria, through to the smallest and poorest, such as Nauru and Malawi.
Who won’t be there?
Disappointingly, two important regulars: Narendra Modi, prime minister of India, and Cyril Ramaphosa, president of South Africa, who are otherwise engaged at the Brics summit, chaired by Vladimir Putin in Russia. Both countries have tried to steer an independent path through recent geopolitical turmoil, and place greater weight on maintaining relations with China and Russia than on the more diffuse attractions of CHOGM.
And what are the main issues?
Climate change, human rights, trade and development. The leaders will also have to elect a new secretary-general, to replace Baroness Scotland who has been in post since 2016. The runners are: Shirley Botchwey, ex-foreign minister of Ghana; Joshua Setipa of Lesotho, a former minister and senator; and Mamadou Tangara, Gambian diplomat and another former foreign minister.
What about slavery and reparations?
Keir Starmer has made it clear that there will be no apology as such for Britain’s role in the slave trade, and that he will not be putting reparations for that or colonialism on the table, in line with his predecessors. However, the issue may still end up being discussed if others wish to do so, and the chair of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) reparations commission, Hilary Beckles, seems keen to speak up.
The prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago Keith Rowley said earlier this year that a decision had been made by Caricom to “very forcefully” speak on reparations. Jamaica, Barbados and the smaller former British territories may back that up. In reality, they do not seek billions in compensation (to which they would, arguably, be morally entitled) but merely extra assistance with development, particularly educational programmes. Even that may be optimistic: Rachel Reeves is rumoured to be considering cuts to Britain’s overseas aid spending in her forthcoming Budget.
What’s the future of the Commonwealth?
In the short term, surprisingly good for this highly disparate group, albeit the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2026 will be a much-denuded affair. Whether India, South Africa and some others will continue to play a meaningful role must be doubtful and, post-Brexit, the UK is a less useful player than it was.
Yet the organisation of proud independent nations – mostly republics, and born out of an imperialism that many died to defeat – has survived previous existential crises including the Rhodesia rebellion, sanctions against apartheid South Africa, and the periodic suspension or exit of states such as Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Fiji.
It has, at least, the 1991 Harare Declaration on human rights to exert some influence on its members and give it something like a constitution. The vagueness of its purpose and the looseness of the Commonwealth’s links are probably its greatest strength, and why it may well survive longer than critics imagine.
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