The Editor Speaks: Commonwealth Day. Is it forgotten?
How many of you know that this Monday 9th March is Commonwealth Day?
How many of you know that we are celebrating it here on Sunday 8th March at St George’s Anglican Church on Courts Road, George Town at 4PM?
We have published today three items relating to Commonwealth Day – HM The Queen’s Commonwealth Message, The Commonwealth Day Affirmation and the Commonwealth Day Message by The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC, Commonwealth Secretary-General.
It would appear to be a very important day in our calendar? Why?
What is Commonwealth Day?
Commonwealth Day is an annual celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations – 53 countries that were previously a part of the British Empire, as well as Britain itself and its overseas territories.
Sixteen of these states still recognise the British Queen as their monarch.
Altogether, it is celebrated by over 2 billion people, or about a third of the world’s population.
After Queen Victoria died in 1901, her birthday (24 May) was anointed Empire Day. It was celebrated in countries all around the Empire as a patriotic holiday, re-enforcing the idea of the greatness of the British Empire.
In 1925, an Empire Day thanksgiving service was held at Wembley Stadium and attracted 90,000 people.
It continued until 1958 when Prime Minister Harold MacMillan announced that it would be renamed Commonwealth Day.
When is Commonwealth Day 2020?
Rather than continuing to celebrate Commonwealth Day on the fixed date of 24 May as they had with Empire Day, the Royal Commonwealth Society determined that it would instead be held on the second Monday of March each year.
For 2020, that means that Commonwealth Day falls on Monday 9 March.
The day is not a public holiday in Britain. It follows, therefore, it is not a Public Holiday in the Cayman Islands.
Membership in the Commonwealth is entirely voluntary.
Some people cannot understand why any country that historicallyBritain made violent claim to, would want to celebrate it.
However, Daniel Howard, writing in the UK’s Independent says the Commonwealth does offer “abusive regimes a fig-leaf of legitimacy and a platform that they would otherwise have to look for at the more crowded but equally grubby United Nations. Considering that it confers no trade priveledges, has no influence on defence or economic policy, no executive authority and no sensible budget to play a global role it remains a talking shop at best and at worst a costly junket.”
There is a queue of countries that want to join the Commonwealth but not for the reasons that The Queen and the Commonwealth Secretary-General have laid down in their separate Messages..
It gives smaller nations the chance to lobby for bi-lateral trade deals, to influence the positions of bigger powers at forums with real bite like the World Trade Organisation.
It also encourages developing members to raise their standard of democracy, rights and governance.
I think it is a pity our Premier didn’t say anything at all about it.
In fact, there has been precious little said about it in our media, nor even our Islands’ social media. Forgotten?
