Commonwealth Secretariat
  1. Home
  2. What's New
  3. Who We Are
  4. What We Do
    1. Democracy
    2. Economics
    3. Education
    4. Gender
    5. Governance
    6. Health
    7. Human Rights
    8. Law
    9. Small States
    10. Sport
    11. Sustainability
    12. Youth
    13. Millennium Development Goals
    14. Funding
  5. News
    1. Events
    2. News Archive Search
    3. Picture Stories
  6. Media Room
    1. Press Archive Search
    2. Media Contacts
    3. Video
    4. Events
    5. In the Media
    6. Updates
    7. Downloads
  7. Resources
    1. Documents
    2. Image Library
    3. Libary & Archives
    4. Publications
  8. Publications
  9. Employment
  10. FAQs
    1. Acronyms
  11. Contact Us
Commonwealth Secretariat press release

UK Government Betrayal Over Commonwealth Institute Site

20 July 2005

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon has harshly condemned the decision by the UK Government to maintain a preservation order on the defunct Commonwealth Institute site in Kensington, London.

"The UK's decision is selfish imperialism. This scandalous act robs millions of children in the developing world of educational opportunities. By having this white elephant de-listed, the Commonwealth Institute could have realised funds for education programmes for 75 million children in the Commonwealth who have never seen the walls of a classroom. The British Government has missed this opportunity and instead decided to keep the Institute's assets locked in a derelict building - a Millennium Dome of the 1960s - which no one wants, no one needs and serves no purpose whatsoever.

"Commonwealth countries invested the equivalent, in today's terms, of £40 million to establish the Institute. This perfidious decision means that their return on that investment, instead of being close to £80 million which could be used to further education in the Commonwealth, will not even reach one-fifth of that amount. The decision is a betrayal of the Commonwealth Institute and its objective of increasing educational opportunities for young people in poor countries.

"The Commonwealth has been wholly supportive of the British Government's efforts, through the Commission for Africa, in the G8 and elsewhere, to improve lives in Africa and other regions of the developing world. This decision flies in the face of those efforts and of the UK Government's stated goal to achieve universal primary education by 2015. It is all the more disappointing given the Commonwealth's unfailing support of London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games."

The Commonwealth Institute moved to the present building in the early 1960s, after the UK Government had obliged it to vacate its previous premises to allow for the expansion of Imperial College. According to independent architectural experts, including its own architect, the building is without great architectural merit and has serious design flaws which cannot be rectified, including a permanently leaking roof. Costs of maintaining the building now rest entirely with the Institute's Board of Trustees.

The application to de-list the building was lodged by the Trustees with the full support of the UK's Parliamentary Under-Secretary with responsibility for the Commonwealth, and of all other Commonwealth governments, who are the Governors of the Institute.

 

 

Share this page
About this

ISSUED BY THE COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIVISION
Commonwealth Secretariat Marlborough House Pall Mall London SW1Y 5HX United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7747 6385/6 Fax: +44 (0)20 7839 9081
Email: info@commonwealth.int