Britain’s presence at the Commonwealth summit will achieve more than an empty chair would Next week, the Prime Minister and I will travel to Sri Lanka for the latest Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The 53 Commonwealth countries together represent two billion people – nearly a third of our world’s population – and some of its fastest-growing economies. Despite its significance, most discussion of the summit has centred on its location. In particular, because of Sri Lanka’s poor record on human rights, some people are calling for a British boycott. I am among the first to want to see...
From a speech by British Foreign Minister William Hague to the Times CEO Africa Summit on March 22, 2010. See the full text here . We are only in the early stages of what is happening in North Africa and the Middle East. It is already set to overtake the 2008 financial crisis and 9/11 as the most important development of the early 21st century , and is likely to bring some degree of political change in all countries in the Arab world. This is a historic shift of massive importance, presenting the international community as a whole with an immense opportunity. We believe that the international response to these events must be commensurately generous, bold and ambitious. But these momentous events do not stop at the borders of the Arab world .