Britain has cut funding to the Commonwealth over concerns about its performance and leadership, reported The Telegraph.
A former senior official said that Whitehall has imposed cuts of £3million over two years from its grant to the troubled organisation, which is facing increased criticism over the venue of its forthcoming summit in Sri Lanka. Britain is the largest contributor to the Commonwealth, giving £16million a year for the organisation’s activities.
The official further said that there is increasing unhappiness with Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma, who was accused of being a “stooge” for Sri Lanka by a senior Canadian official earlier this week.
“William Hague has recently conceded to critics of the Commonwealth leadership that a change would be desirable,” the source said.
“It is a pity but Mr Sharma is the wrong man for the job. The Commonwealth has a big job to do helping to improve official work in its member states but Mr Sharma is not interested.”