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The Commonwealth - Don McKinnon and Kwasi Kwarteng

Bridget Kendall discusses the role of the Commonwealth with Sir Don McKinnon, Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Frances Harrison and Sir Ronald Sanders.

On Start the Week Bridget Kendall discusses the role and future of the Commonwealth. As its Secretary-General at the turn of the century, Sir Don McKinnon reveals its inner workings. But the journalist Frances Harrison is critical of the organisation for failing to challenge human rights abuses. The MP Kwasi Kwarteng questions whether the Commonwealth can ever shed the baggage of Empire, and Sir Ronald Sanders asks if it can survive the rise of China.
Producer: Katy Hickman.

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43 minutes

Last on

Mon 25 Feb 2013 21:30
Â鶹Éç Radio 4

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Sir Don McKinnon

Sir Don McKinnon is a former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand. ÌýHe was the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations from 2000 until 2008.

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In the Ring: A Commonwealth Memoir is published by Elliott & Thompson.

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Frances Harrison

Frances Harrison is a journalist.

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Still Counting the Dead: Survivors of Sri Lanka’s Hidden War is published by Portobello Books.

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Kwasi Kwarteng

Kwasi Kwarteng is the Conservative MP for Spelthorne.

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Sir Ronald Sanders

Sir Ronald Sanders is a diplomat, businessman and scholar.Ìý He is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies.

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Broadcasts

  • Mon 25 Feb 2013 09:00
    Â鶹Éç Radio 4
  • Mon 25 Feb 2013 21:30
    Â鶹Éç Radio 4

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    Weekly discussion programme, setting the cultural agenda every Monday