At last a display of leadership from America. Not from Washington, where the concept seems to have gone out of fashion, but from Ottawa. Stephen Harper, the Canadian Prime Minister, is riding to the rescue of the Commonwealth. Correctly, he takes the view that this free association of nations, bound by agreed principles, stands or falls by its 1949 dedication to “freedom, democracy and respect for human dignity”.
Harper was always dubious about the decision two years ago to confer on Sri Lanka the honour of hosting next month’s biennial Heads of Government meeting. He insisted that Sri Lanka must first be seen openly to address the crimes committed during the country’s 37-year civil war, not least its bloody finale in 2009 when the army