MPS urge Cameron to boycott summit

AN INFLUENTIAL group of MPs has urged David Cameron to boycott a Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka over human rights abuses.

The Foreign Affairs Committee said the decision to hold the Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo next year was “wrong”.

The call came in a report on the future of the Commonwealth, which delivered a wider warning that the network’s moral authority was being “undermined by the repressive actions of member governments”.

The MPs said they were “disturbed” by the ineffectiveness of the mechanisms for upholding the Commonwealth’s values.

The body’s secretariat needs to “sharpen, strengthen and promote its diplomatic performance”, according to the report.

“The Commonwealth has appeared less active and less publicly visible in recent years and there is evidence that it is missing opportunities to influence events,” the MPs said.

The UK Government also came in for criticism over the lack of a “clear and coordinated strategy” for its relations with the group.

The report said: “The UK Prime Minister should publicly state his unwillingness to attend the meeting unless he receives convincing and independently- verif ied evidence of substantial and sustainable improvements in human and political rights in Sri Lanka.”