Arms and the Club
Sir: The sale of arms to South Africa is not the ideal issue on which to test how far the (British) 'Commonwealth' can withstand contemporary international poli- tical stresses. But it has long been obvious that many of its 'new' members tolerate membership only so long as it enables them to ex- ploit the United Kingdom for money and other help which they cannot find elsewhere, while retain-
ing their freedom to oppose, de- nounce and sometimes insult the United Kingdom at the UN and elsewhere.
An agonising reappraisal of the benefits to the United Kingdom of 'Commonwealth' membership is long overdue.
Why not a non-aligned Com- monwealth of 'new' members with- out Britain (arC with President Kaunda or President Nyerere as its head)?
Freed of the existing 'Common- wealth'—or ar least of the more burdensome 'new' members— Britain would regain a most valu- able freedom to order her inter- national relations to her own ad- vantage. The Club, whose rules only the 'old' members now observe, has surely outlived its use to this island: sterling balances or no. Must we always wait to be overtaken by events before recog- nising the inevitable? Francis Noel-Baker Travellers' Club, Pall Mall, Lon- don swl
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