Your Excellencies, Secretary General; I am delighted to celebrate
with you the official birthday of Her Majesty the Queen.
No-one has given more, nor means so much to the
Commonwealth. She has served as our Head for over 67 years,
working tirelessly for our family of nations. She has overseen
extraordinary growth and change; where once we were 8 members,
now we are 53, encompassing a third of the world’s
population.
One of the great honours of my time as Prime Minister was to host
your Leaders for last year’s Heads of Government Meeting.
All of us collectively - governments, Secretariat and the
wider network of Commonwealth organisations - achieved something
very special.
We committed to building a more secure, prosperous, sustainable,
and fair future for our 2.4 billion people. As Chair-in-Office,
the United Kingdom feels a particular responsibility to support
and facilitate the fulfilment of those commitments.
And we’re making progress. To build our sustainability, the
Commonwealth Clean Oceans Alliance, led by Vanuatu and the UK,
now includes 25 members committed to action to tackle marine
plastic pollution.
The Commonwealth Standards Network – now 42 strong - will
increase prosperity by helping member states adopt, implement and
influence the development of international standards which aid
trade and investment.
And to enhance our cyber security, 28 Commonwealth countries have
so far conducted national reviews with support from the UK and
others, building on our world-leading Commonwealth Cyber
Declaration agreed last year.
We should be proud of our achievements, and be excited as we look
ahead to next year’s meeting in Rwanda.
And so, Excellencies, Secretary General, please join me in a
toast to Her Majesty: To the Queen, Head of the Commonwealth.
