Yasmin Alibhai- Brown at Edinburgh Festival of Politics

The Commonwealth today is an association of 53 member countries with nearly 2.5 billion citizens spread across the globe.  

Detractors perceive it as nothing better than a post-colonial club with very little influence. Its supporters say it promotes democracy, good government, human rights and economic development.

Join Chair and former BBC special correspondent Allan Little to discuss the future of the Commonwealth with Kamalesh Sharma, Commonwealth Secretary-General and former Indian High Commissioner to the UK; journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown; and Professor Philip Murphy, Director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is a Ugandan-born British journalist and author, who describes herself as a 'leftie liberal, anti-racist, feminist, Muslim, part-Pakistani, and... a very responsible person'. Currently a regular columnist for The Independentand the London Eveninig Standard, she is a well-known commentator on issues relating to immigration, diversity and multiculturalism. Yasmin most recent publication is Refusing the Veil.