CONFIDENTIAL
DSR 11C
BRITAIN'S INTEREST IN THE COMMONWEALTH.
The Nature of the Commonwealth
1.
UK,
The Commonwealth consists of 43 full members, and 3
special members who pay a smaller contribution to the
Commonwealth Secretariat budget and enjoy all the benefits
of membership except attendance at the Commonwealth Heads
of Government (CHGM) meetings. A list of Commonwealth members
is at Annex 1. There are four developed country members
Canada, Australia and New Zealand - with the rest drawn from
the developing world. These range from countries of con-
siderable importance, such as India and Nigeria, to tiny
Pacific and Caribbean islands, and span the political spectrum
from the right (Singapore) to the far left (Grenada, Seychelles
Commonwealth countries represent most of the major regions of
the world and they contain a quarter of the world's
population. Their governments, though not always their
people, are for the most part Anglophone.
2. The Commonwealth has no written constitution, though its
members subscribe to the Declaration of Commonwealth
Principles drawn up in 1971 (See Annex 2) and recognize The
Queen as Head of the Commonwealth, a title which carries no
formal responsibilities, though there remain enormous respect
and affection for The Queen personally. The Queen remains the
Head of State of 16 Commonwealth countries apart from Britain.
The London-based Commonwealth Secretariat (founded in 1965
and consisting of a staff of about 400 drawn from member
countries) prepares major Commonwealth meetings and services
the main Commonwealth functional aid programmes. The present
Secretary-General, whose second 5 year term expires in 1985,
is Shridath Ramphal from Guyana.
3. The official activities of the Commonwealth include the
biennial CHGM, the annual Finance Ministers meeting, held