Ten years ago, the UK’s House of Commons foreign affairs committee issued an optimistic report on the future of the Commonwealth of Nations. Far from being a relic of the past, the report asserted, the Commonwealth, “by virtue of its unique network qualities”, was acquiring a new significance in the modern world. The report recommended steps to strengthen both trade and investment ties between Commonwealth countries and generally to put the Commonwealth more at the centre of British foreign policy.

Have these hopes been realised, and will they be fully reflected in the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) which starts tomorrow in Malta, or in the Commonwealth Business Council which is meeting now?